Opry Rising

Opry Rising

Imitation is the Best Form of Flattery – the Parthenon Replica in Tennessee

Nashville's autograph the Athens of the South shaped the selection of the building as the showpiece of the 1897 fair. A number of buildings at the Exposition were founded on antique archetypes. But Parthenon was the only one which was conceptualized as an accurate replica and was also the only one which was preserved by the city.

At present, the Parthenon is converted into an art museum. It is the centerpiece of a large park the Centennial Park and is located just west of downtown Nashville. Alan LeQuire's 1990 re-creation of the Athena Parthenos statue is the center of the Parthenon just as it was in very old Greece. The building is a complete replica of the Athenian novel; and the statue of Athena Parthenos inside is a renovation of the originally lost and is designed to careful scholarly standards: she is dressed and helmeted, holds a shield on her left arm and a small statue of Victory in her right palm, and is 42 feet high. The whole statute is made of more than eight pounds of gold leaf; an equally enormous snake rises on its head between her and her shield. Since the building is whole and its decoration were polychromed as close to the supposed unique as possible, it is debatably a better symbol of what the Athenians would have seen.

This duplication of the unique Parthenon in Athens suffices the memorial to what is conceived as the peak of classical architecture. The plaster statues of the Parthenon Marbles found in the Naos are direct casts of the original sculptures, which decorated the gables of the Athenian Parthenon and dates back to 438 BC. The originals of these remains are sheltered in the British Museum in London.

As an art museum, the Parthenon's enduring compilation is a group of 63 paintings by 19th and 20th century American artists presented by James M. Cowan. Additional gallery places afford a site for an assortment of temporary shows and exhibits.

During the summer, the building is used as a background for local theatre productions where Greek plays such as Euripides' Medea and Sophocles' Antigone, are shot on the steps of the Parthenon. Other public presentation, such as Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses, was filmed inside at the foot of Athena's statue.

Nashville, Tennessee is also known for several other attractions, such as the Grand Ole Opry and the Tennessee State Museum. If you stay at a downtown Nashville hotel, you can explore the entire city within two to three days. Your Nashville hotel may also be able to arrange your complete itinerary upon request.

About the Author

Naveen Marasinghe is an Online Marketing Executive at eMarketingEye which is a search engine marketing agency that offers integrated Internet marketing solutions and specializes in serving the online travel and hospitality industry. (http://www.emarketingeye.com/ )

Can you guess my name?

I was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, and known by a nickname that was given to me after Grand Ole Opry comedian Rod Brasfield's ventriloquist dummy, I was raised by my mother after my father's death in 1953. My rise to fame began with lessons on the piano by Jerry Lee Lewis. I also was taught the guitar. I began performing when I was eight years old, and in 1963, I made my recording debut with "Long Gone Lonesome Blues", a song which was a staple of my father's career.

Hank williams jr.

The Centennial Rodeo Opry performing "Oklahoma Rising"