Requested to identify “the Athens of the South,” many Americans would possibly effectively level to Athens, Georgia, especially in the event that they happen to be followers of REM, the B‑52s, or Of Montreal. The truth is, that title was claimed by Nashville, Tennessee as early because the eighteen-fifties, when the town put into motion its ambitious plans for a public education system. By the tip of that century, Nashville boasted not simply greater than 20 colleges and universities (Vanderbilt being the most effective identified at the moment), but in addition a full-scale replica of the Parthenon, the traditional temple to the goddess Athena. It was constructed for the state’s Centennial Exhibition in 1897, when no display of native grandeur was an excessive amount of.
Close toly 130 years later, the Nashville Parthenon stays a serious native attraction alongsideaspect the likes of the Grand Ole Opry, the Counattempt Music Corridor of Fame, and the Honky Tonk Excessivemanner. The structure curhirely situated in Centennial Park (additionally the house of that modern website of pilgrimage, the Taylor Swift Bench) isn’t the identical one at which visitors marveled in 1897.
After a couple of a long time of deterioration, writes Artworksy’s Isaac Kaplan, “massive renovations have been beneathtaken in 1920, overseen by an architect named Ruspromote Hart, who committed to making the constructing each enduring and as historically true to the original Parthenon as possible,” an extensive rebuild that even entailed making casts of the original marbles.
In contrast to the bombed-out destroy within the Athens of Greece, the Nashville Parthenon stands proudly intact. However does it move muster with serious enthusiasts of classical civilization? In the video at the top of the post, Garrett Ryan of ancient-history YouTube channel Informed in Stone makes the journey. He notes that, although it does contain a gold-plated (or somewhat, gold-leaf plated) statue of Athena very like the one originally sculpted by Phidias, the constructing is “not an actual replica. It’s manufactured from concrete, not marble, it has no frieze, the colors are all unsuitable, and the interior may be very different from the original. But it surely offers a way of the size of the Parthenon,” and “captures the experience of visiting a temple of this measurement.” The parking lot proper alongsideaspect it does some hurt to the illusion, granted, nevertheless it does encourage the visitor to mirror upon the character of civilization: American civilization, that’s.
Related content:
A Tour of Athens’ Acropolis, Explained with 3D Reconstructions
A 3D Model Reveals What the Parthenon and Its Interior Looked Like 2,500 Years Ago
How the Ancient Greeks Built Their Magnificent Temples: The Art of Ancient Engineering
A Virtual Tour of Ancient Athens: Fly Over Classical Greek Civilization in All Its Glory
How the Parthenon Marbles Ended Up In The British Museum
Primarily based in Seoul, Colin Marshall writes and broadcasts on cities, language, and culture. He’s the creator of the newsletter Books on Cities in addition to the books 한국 요약 금지 (No Summarizing Korea) and Korean Newtro. Follow him on the social webwork formerly referred to as Twitter at @colinmarshall.
