The Parthenon Nashville

The Parthenon in Nashville was built in 1897 for the Tennessee Centennial Exposition. This event marked Tennessee’s one-hundredth anniversary of statehood. For the different states that participated in this exposition, there were over 100 structures created to symbolize the theme of each state. Our Nashville Parthenon had become one of the more famous of all the structures that were built. Nashville had already earned the nickname “Athens of the South”. So came to be this full-scale replica of the real Parthenon located in Athens Greece, therefore epitomizing that nickname.

Centennial Park

The Parthenon is the centerpiece for one of Nashville’s greatest parks. Centennial Park is a 132-acre park that has many different amenities for your day out for fun. Go there on any warm summer day and you will find hundreds of people enjoying this great place. A one-mile paved jogging path, or walk if you prefer. Oh, the beautiful lake called Watauga where waterfowl and fish are abundant just waiting to model and pose for your camera. Sorry .. leave your fishing poles at home ’cause you ain’t a fishin’ in this lake. Hey on the upside, it is free to visit the park.

The landscaping is awe-inspiring! The rock bridge that joins the flower gardens is a popular spot for couples wanting to get their pictures taken. Beautiful sunken flower garden that accentuates the rock bridge. As you walk around the park you will also notice the historic monuments such as the fighter jet and train engine. There is even a dog park to entertain Fido the Wonder dog or spot .. or .. ya know whatever your pooches name is. If you happen to be in Nashville for the day or a romantic Nashville couples getaway. I highly recommend you make this place one of your visits.

Need a place for a large social gathering? There are event shelters for your festivities! Does it involve some jamming tunes? Got that covered with an outside bandshell. I’ve been hanging out there and honestly, you can’t count the people that are there. They are having events to simply have a family picnic on the front lawn.

The 42′ tall Statue of Athena in The Nashville Parthenon

Inside of the Parthenon, there are many pieces of beautiful art. Without a doubt, the one that stands out the most (that could be a pun) is the statue of Athena standing 42 feet tall (told ya). They used Gypsum Cement and chopped fiberglass bonded to a metal frame to create the replica of Athena. There were lots of details to be carefully sculpted. Once they done, they painted the skin, eyes, and other features. Next came the step that makes it really impressive.

Real Gold was used!!

All the gold color is just that that .. real 23.75 karat gold leaf. The process of layering the gold leaf is called gilding. This leaf is crazy thin .. 3 times thinner than cigarette paper and is 3-3/8″ square. Look at all that gold and imagine laying it at 3″ at a time. That took a long process, like 3 months of that tedious work. The gold has no protective layer because REAL gold doesn’t tarnish. So adding some form of protective coating would have actually hurt the beautiful patina of the gold. The statue within The Nashville Parthenon was completed on September 3, 2002.

In Athena’s outstretched right hand is Nike, the winged goddess of victory, strength, and speed. Nike is to crown Athena with the Laurel Wreath. In Athena’s left hand she holds her shield that has the head of Medusa in the center of it. The painting on the shield is very interesting!!

Caring for the statue seems to be fairly simple and straightforward.  Simply a soft damp cloth and gently wipe her down. I mentioned above how thin the gold leaf is. Well, back in the old days they used a mallet to beat the gold that thin. Recently there is now a machine that takes care of the boring hard work of making the thin sheets. Just in case you are wondering .. it’s Italian Gold.

More Great Art in The Nashville Parthenon

Inside the Parthenon, there is much more than Athena to check out. On the lower level, there is an art gallery with amazing paintings on display. In this area, you cannot take pictures. The day I was there taking the pictures of Athena, they had paintings of the Grimms’ fairy tales. They had me rather fascinated. I really appreciate some forms of paintings because to be totally honest, I can barely do color by numbers!

Also in the gallery are exquisite sculptures of stone and ceramic from Nayarit, Colima, Michoacan, and Jalisco regions of Western Mexico.

Athena is located on the upper level. Around her are nicely detailed replicas of Greek sculptures. The originals were carved from marble, these replicas are cast and carved from plaster. These sculptures known as the Elgin Marbles, also known as the Parthenon Marbles, are a collection of classical Greek marble sculptures that were made mostly by Phidias and his assistance.

Years ago, the times I’ve visited the Parthenon Nashville, the Elgin Marbles were located along the walls of the same room as Athena. When I was there this time they had been moved to the room behind Athena. I tried to get a good picture of the massive doors, but the sunlight coming through was glaring out the camera.

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