Post card Tuesday: Nashville Parthenon Interior

Interior - The Parthenon - Nashville, Tenn E-24

If you have been to the Parthenon over the last 30 years, you know it is no longer empty but now houses a replica statue of Athena. However, this post card is from the Real Photo Post Card era, and is probably at least 70 years old.

Christmas at Nashville's Parthenon

With the Red and Green illuminated Parthenon in the background, there is an area that has several Christmas Trees all decorated with lights of a single color. The white tree is the largest. The closest tree in this picture actually has yellow lights, while the other tree has more of a cranberry color. (There were also green, red and blue trees when this photo was taken in 2007.)

The Parthenon

The Parthenon (with some of the Nashville Skyline)

I love taking pictures of the Parthenon and it occurred to me that this was an angle I'd never before seen.

On a personal note, this photo has extra special meaning to me. At the time, my wife was an ICU patient at Centennial Medical Center which is seen along the left of the picture. She nearly died on Feb. 22 2014 but the fine doctors there kept her alive. A month later, she was still in the ICU but not as critical, so I felt comfortable walking around the neighborhood and seeing some of the sights. You can learn more of the experience here:
www.facebook.com/MariLynnIan

Christmas at Centennial Park: Red and Green Parthenon

Into the 50's, Harvey's Department store used to have a spectacular nativity scene here. I wish I could have seen it.

Athena from outside the Parthenon

On rare occasions, the large doors to the Parthenon are opened. The statue of Athena is about 60 ft. tall. This photo was several years ago and was done in conjunction with a free concert held on the inside that night.

Post Card Tuesday: The Parthenon

Here is a view of what is perhaps Nashville's most famous landmark. This post card was dated 1911.

Here's a modern view of the front.



and another view from the side:

Biggest toes in Nashville

This is the Athena statue inside the Parthenon at Centennial Park. Alan LeQuire was the sculptor who designed Athena with the task to make her look just like the original at the original Parthenon in Greece.

Athena is 42 feet tall. To use easy math, think of a person who is 6 feet tall. Athena is 7 times as big as a person who is six feet tall, and that would make these toes 7 times as big as an average persons toes.

The Parthenon in Nashville at Night

In the Christmas season the lights which illuminate Centennial Park's iconic landmark turn the columns red and green. Near Valentine's Day, it might go all red. However, for most of the year this is the way it looks.

If you're interested in the Parthenon, it's history, how it was built and how the Athena Statue came to be, I have a book recommendation.


The Parthenon in Nashville
This book was originally written in 1968 by Nashville historian Wilbur Creighton. He briefly writes the story of how it came to be for the Tennessee Centennial Exposition and how it came to be rebuilt and is now a city mainstay. This version of the book was published in 1990 and includes an extra section on Alan LeQuire's Athena Statue which was rather close to being finished at that time.

Parthenon Detail Replica and Ruins - Centennial Park

Inside Nashville's Parthenon is this smaller replica of Greek Mythology figures that adorns the top of one of the sides.



some of the "ruins" from the original castings of the Parthenon in Centennial Park. These ruins now are on the inside of the Parthenon.

Most of the time the Parthenon is open to the public, or during regular operating house, it is open as an inexpensive museum. On the lower floor, which is mostly an art gallery, you're not allowed to take pictures. However, in the large room, you are allowed to take pictures of this, or more likely, the Athena statue.

TIP: Don't want to pay the $4 to get in? Go to the Parthenon website, and look under the Events Calendar. Sometimes, they have free concerts inside.

Athena's Nike Inside the Parthenon

If you've never heard what is inside the Replica Parthenon at Nashville's Centennial Park, there is a replica of the statue of the goddess Athena that appeared in the original Greek Parthenon. Sculptor Alan LeQuire went to great detail to recreate the statue so that it would be as close as the original as possible, despite the limited information available on the original. The statue was many years in the making.

Athena is holding Nike in her Right hand. Nike was the Greek goddess of victory. Nike is about as tall as a real person. Notice the snake bracelet.

Bird's eye view of the 1896 TN Centennial Exposition

This painting depicts what the famous Tennessee Centennial Exposition would have looked like from above. (from A hot air balloon perhaps?) If you are not familiar with the area, this is what is now Centennial Park today, but little has remained the same.

Although we hear it still today, "Athens of the South" was a more prominent nickname for Nashville at the time, so to represent Nashville, a replica of Athens most prominent building was constructed. The Parthenon is around today, but it is a rebuilt parthenon. Lake Watauga is still around, but is not as large now as it was then. (side note: in the 1920's park officials thought it would be a good idea to put crocodiles in the lake, but people complained when they killed all the ducks.) To the right oif the parthenon is a pyramid representing the city of Memphis.

The exposition lasted over a year and had large crowds. When it was over, the land was sold at a discounted rate to the city of Nashville, and the city's park department was created.

I've seen this image in several places, but this particular reproduction is in the downtown Nashville Library.

Christmas at Centennial Park: Red and Green Parthenon & reflection

For Christmas, the Parthenon is illuminated with red and green lights, which is seen here reflecting into Lake Watauga. This picture is a 6 second exposure. During this time, two ducks were swimming in the water, one remaining still and the other swimming. You might see the still one below the tree, with the moving one to its right.

Nashville's 42-foot tall Greek goddess

Athena - a statue years in the making!

Nashville's first Parthenon was built for the Tennessee Centennial Exposition. After the Exposition was finished, the grounds became Centennial Park and the Parthenon remained. That building lasted for a couple of decades. It was so popular that it was decided that a more permanent second Parthenon would be built, and that it should resemble the original as closely as possible.

From these days in the early 1920s, the idea to have a matching as-close-to-the-original-as-possible Athena replica was also begun. From there, it took decades to secure enough private funding. Once enough donations had been gathered, the next step was to determine what the original looked like, since it wasn't around any more. Once that was Settled, sculptor Alan LeQuire was given the task of making the 42-foot replica with a human-sized Nike, a process that by itself took years. Finally a layer of gold was added to all the appropriate places to finalize the statue circa 1990.

Suggested reading: The Parthenon in Nashville