The Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee is a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon
in Athens.
It was built in 1897 as part of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition.
Today the Parthenon, which functions as an art museum, stands as the centerpiece of Centennial
Park, a large public park just west of downtown Nashville.
Alan LeQuire's 1990 re-creation of the Athena Parthenos statue is the focus of the Parthenon
just as it was in ancient Greece.
The building is a full-scale replica of the Athenian original; and the statue of Athena
Parthenos within is a reconstruction of the long lost original to careful scholarly standards:
she is cuirassed and helmeted, carries a shield on her left arm and a small statue of Nike
in her right palm, and stands 42 feet high, gilt with more than eight pounds of gold leaf;
an equally colossal serpent rears its head between her and her shield.
Since the building is complete and its decorations were polychromed as close to the presumed
original as possible, this replica of the original Parthenon in Athens serves as a monument
to what is considered the pinnacle of classical architecture.
The plaster replicas of the Parthenon Marbles found in the Naos are direct casts of the
original sculptures which adorned the pediments of the Athenian Parthenon, dating back to
438 BC.
Many fragments of the originals are housed in the British Museum in London.
Others are at the Acropolis Museum in Athens.
History
Nashville's moniker, the "Athens of the South", influenced the choice of the building as the
centerpiece of the 1897 fair.
A number of buildings at the Exposition were based on ancient originals, however the Parthenon
was the only one that was an exact reproduction.
It was also the only one that was preserved by the city, although the Knights of Pythias
Pavilion building was purchased and moved to nearby Franklin, Tennessee.
Major Eugene Castner Lewis was the director of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition and
it was at his suggestion that a reproduction of the Parthenon be built in Nashville to
serve as the centerpiece of Tennessee’s Centennial Celebration.
Mr. Lewis also served as the chief civil engineer for the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis
Railroad.
Originally built of plaster, wood, and brick, the Parthenon was not intended to be permanent,
but the cost of demolishing the structure combined with its popularity with residents
and visitors alike resulted in it being left standing after the Exposition.
In 1895 George Julian Zolnay was "employed to make models for the ornamentation" for
the building.
Within the next 20 years, weather had defaced the landmark; it was then rebuilt on the same
foundations, in concrete, in a project that started in 1920; the exterior was completed
in 1925 and the interior in 1931.
Some of the most elaborate events that occurred at the Parthenon were the Spring Pageants
of 1913 and 1914.
These extravaganzas were theatrical productions on a massive scale.
With casts of up to 500, the Pageants brought in audiences from surroundings states and
rail prices were lowered to encourage attendance.
The entire city of Nashville reveled in the opportunity to celebrate the "Athens of the
South."
The 1913 performance was entitled "The Fire Regained," and featured a mythological storyline
enhanced by theatrical spectacle popular in that era.
The 1914 production, "The Mystery at Thanatos," had a similarly mythological plot, but was
shorter and better received.
A copy of the script is on file at the Nashville Public Library.
The most impressive thing about these Pageants was the incredible use of visual spectacle.
Both shows featured impressive displays ranging from chariot races to huge dance numbers to
thousands of live birds to set pieces that shot flames, all set against the backdrop
of the majestic Nashville Parthenon.
As an art museum, the Parthenon's permanent collection is a group of 63 paintings by 19th-
and 20th-century American artists donated by James M. Cowan.
Additional gallery spaces provide a venue for a variety of temporary shows and exhibits.
In the summertime, local theatre productions use the building as a backdrop for classic
Greek plays such as Euripides' Medea and Sophocles' Antigone, performing on the steps of the Parthenon.
Other performances, such as Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses, have been done inside, at the
foot of Athena's statue.
It contains a replica, completed in 1990, of the Athena Parthenos statue which was in
the original Parthenon in Athens.
The Parthenon got a full makeover in 2002 with a much needed cleaning and restoration
to the exterior.
The exterior lighting was upgraded to allow the columns of building to be illuminated
with different colors than the facade, allowing a uniquely versatile display of effects for
events.
In popular culture The Parthenon served as the location for the
political rally in the climactic scene of Robert Altman's 1975 film Nashville.
It was also used as a backdrop for the battle against the Hydra in the 2010 film Percy Jackson
& the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.
It features in the title and lyrics of the song Nashville Parthenon from the album Etiquette,
by Casiotone for the Painfully Alone.
It was used in the 2000 PBS series Greeks: Crucible of Civilization.
References
External links Parthenon website
Panoramic photograph of the Parthenon published in 1909
Photos and text on the Nashville Parthenon and the Nashville Athena