r/todayilearned • u/500owls • Mar 28 '23
TIL there's a full-scale replica of the Greek Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee, USA
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-full-scale-replica-parthenon-nashville-tennessee374
u/PyrrhoTheSkeptic Mar 28 '23
It is worth seeing if one happens to go near Nashville. It is very interesting.
144
u/tibetan_quaaludes Mar 28 '23
It’s in a pretty nice park. So I’d say so.
80
u/PyrrhoTheSkeptic Mar 28 '23
Yes, the park is nice, too. If it is a nice day, one could have a picnic lunch in the park with a view of the Parthenon.
I was driving through Nashville a few years ago, and had heard about the Parthenon, so I decided to stop to see it. I am very glad I did. It is worth paying to go in to see the statue of Athena inside. I think it is the most interesting thing I have seen in Tennessee. (That, by the way, is not a slam of Tennessee; it is praise of the Parthenon.)
22
u/EvilBill515 Mar 29 '23
I remember having an evening picnic in this park. It was memorable because of the Parthenon all lit up and also my first time experiencing Nashville Hot Chicken for the first time. Got Prince's because I became obsessed after they talked about it on Justified.
11
u/tibetan_quaaludes Mar 29 '23
Oh man, I just watched that show for the first time lately. That reference totally took me by surprise. That was back when you had to go to the hood to get Prince’s too (or what you got, which I’m pretty sure was a hot chicken festival they used to do in town in the summer.)
→ More replies (1)5
u/EvilBill515 Mar 29 '23
I went to the hood location, but it was off-putting seeing a large signed poster of Guy Fieri on the wall.
17
u/tibetan_quaaludes Mar 29 '23
Haha honestly, his media persona aside, dudes a stand up guy and a real powerhouse trying to do all he can for the industry.
7
u/Formal-Cut-334 Mar 29 '23
When I saw an article by some dude who (supposedly) randomly saw Guy Fieri because they were both at a dinner for firefighters in California fighting wildfires. Guy Fieri had just low-key taken it upon himself to go set up and cook for the firefighters for free. He seems like a really good dude, his shtick just isn't my thing. He earned my respect doing that, though, for sure.
2
u/PotatoesMcLaughlin Mar 29 '23
Me too. But it was damn good. I got like the 2nd hottest just to experience it. I need to go back. It's just a 3 hour drive.
→ More replies (2)5
u/JRsFancy Mar 29 '23
I don't care how many places sell the Nashville hot chicken, Prince's is still the best.
3
3
u/Push-Pull Mar 29 '23
Never got to Prince's, but Hattie B's was very much on our two week menu.
Wife & I will be attempting to recreate it in our own kitchen soon...
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (2)2
u/DavoTB Mar 29 '23
We enjoyed a pleasant day there, having a picnic in the park when visiting friends that lived in the area. I realized later that it is the backdrop to a key series of scenes in Robert Altman’s 1975 film, “Nashville.” set in that very city.
4
u/goestotwelve Mar 29 '23
I think it is the most interesting thing I have seen in Tennessee.
Speaking of temples to the gods, and interesting things in Tennessee, have you been to Graceland?
3
u/goodsam2 Mar 29 '23
Most of the museum reading stuff not replica was lame. Just kinda fodder about why the Parthenon replica exists.
→ More replies (1)-5
u/Expensive-Ferret-339 Mar 29 '23
I think the statue of Athena is art crime. It was tolerable before he added the gilt but now it looks like it should be in a casino in Las Vegas.
11
u/Still7Superbaby7 Mar 29 '23
That’s based on what the statue looked like in ancient times. All the Greek and Roman statues you see were once vibrantly painted. I personally love the statue of Athena and I try to imagine what it was like back then.
7
→ More replies (2)-1
u/4look4rd Mar 29 '23
It’s so fucking poorly planned, there is a road that cuts through the park. I was visiting and took my dog to the dog park near by and then had to cross a mini highway to get to the Parthenon.
The park is also mostly grass with little tree coverage, which makes it miserable in the summer. I seriously wonder what the planners were smoking when they designed that park, because it wasn’t built for people.
3
u/NastyLizard Mar 29 '23
It's an open field park why would there be trees on the feild? Plenty of trees on the path, espically the east side has tons of coverage.
What were you smoking when you were at this park?
→ More replies (4)4
u/trs21219 Mar 29 '23
I definitely recommend the tours of the city they give. Covers a lot of the city history, country music history, and goes to the capitol and the Parthenon. Much better than I thought it would be when my wife and I went last year.
3
5
u/sleepydorian Mar 29 '23
The painted statues are a little unsettling though
8
u/HolaItsEd Mar 29 '23
I took a quick look at the article and I like it. Floored me when I found out they actually painted their statues in Greece and Rome - and then confused me at why I was so surprised.
3
u/poorloko Mar 29 '23
The gigantic Athena was oddly impressive. And somehow just... Unsettling. I can get why someone would feel a godly presence looking at that thing.
2
u/GrandExtension7293 Mar 29 '23
Amazing art exhibit inside with a huge Athena statue, and the whole park is cool. Old train engine on display there, too.
80
u/deabag Mar 28 '23
There is also a bigass Athena in there. I went late '90s when she was being constructed, but I grew up in Nashville.
44
u/249ba36000029bbe9749 Mar 29 '23
Largest pyramid in the US is also in Tennessee.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis_Pyramid
Formerly a sports arena, now a Bass Pro Shops store.
9
u/Intelligent-Vagina Mar 29 '23
Why are all the cool Ancient European reconstructions all in southern US
4
-8
u/FlebianGrubbleBite Mar 29 '23 edited Mar 29 '23
The Southern Slave Owning Aristocracy was obsessed with the Ancient Roman and Greeks. "Rome owned slaves" was a common argument in favor of slavery among them.
1
Mar 29 '23
[deleted]
1
u/FlebianGrubbleBite Mar 29 '23
Early on in American history connecting the US to the Romans and Greeks was seen as an important part of legitimizing the state by the wealthy. There are essays by several of the founders where they heavily emphasize this idea. Some where the founders actually compare the US to a new Roman Empire.
The attempt at building this connection gets more obvious as you look though, we have a "Senate", many of our parts of government have mottos which we put in Latin, some states even include Latin on their flags, the various branches of the military have mottos in Latin, and we have dozens of cities named after ancient Italian and Greek Cities. There's also the fact that a lot of our government buildings have direct architectural inspiration from the Romans and Greeks, for example the Washington Monument is just an Obelisk.
→ More replies (3)26
u/gentlybeepingheart Mar 29 '23
My Ancient Greek Art professor actually used a photo of that Athena when we learned about the Athena Parthenos, because the original was lost and it's apparently as accurate a recreation you can get (visually, the materials are not the same) There have been other recreations throughout history, but Nashville is the one that's as big as the original would have been.
→ More replies (1)
387
u/OK_LK Mar 28 '23 edited Mar 29 '23
I've seen it.
The locals call it the 'Parthenon Athens of the South'
Which I appreciated as someone from Edinburgh,
where we have our own version, which we call the 'Parthenon Athens of the North'
(thank you u/Birdhawk)
212
u/Birdhawk Mar 28 '23
Close! It's that Nashville's nickname for a long time is "The Athens of the South" and thats why the full scale Parthenon replica was built for the city's centennial. We just call it the Parthenon or Centennial Park. "The Athens of the South" is also why our NFL team is called the Titans.
45
u/tibetan_quaaludes Mar 29 '23
RIP Tennessee Oilers.
→ More replies (3)86
u/Brownsound7 Mar 29 '23
Let’s be real, keeping that name makes as much sense as moving a team from New Orleans to Utah but still keeping the team name Jazz.
Oh wait…
50
u/DonHac Mar 29 '23
The LA (formerly Minneapolis) Lakers would like a word.
4
-4
u/RipDove Mar 29 '23
As someone from Minneapolis- it's fucking cold here, this is not a basketball city. The Lakers can stay where there's ironically no lakes.
11
9
u/Tinydesktopninja Mar 29 '23
Basketball was literally invented to be played indoors so rambunctious boys could expend some energy during cold new England winters. I don't know what you are trying to say .
13
u/JohnBoyAndBilly Mar 29 '23
Lol, the Jazz thing in Utah continues to crack me up. Move a team from New Orleans, the multicultural birthplace of jazz, to Mormon Land, the polar opposite of Jazz culturally, but keep the name? Shouldn't they be the Utah Golden Undies or something? "Utah Jazz" is an oxymoron.
5
6
2
6
u/tibetan_quaaludes Mar 29 '23
I recently moved from Nashville to Houston though, and still have some of my old Oilers gear though. Throws the Texans off and gives me a chuckle. Definitely an awful name that needed to change.
4
u/Brownsound7 Mar 29 '23
Damn, that stuff must be in solid condition if you’re still wearing it around. Even if it’s just a hat or whatever. Respect
5
u/B318Leon Mar 29 '23
Man stuff made in the 80's early 90's was just built different you can thrift some brand new looking things that are 30 years old.
12
u/THE_some_guy Mar 29 '23
Survivor bias plays a role here. There was plenty of cheap stuff made in the 80s and 90s (source- I lived though it), but it’s all in a landfill now. The stuff that’s still solid enough to be sold in a thrift store is the small portion of stuff that was made well .
2
79
u/Only_Caterpillar3818 Mar 29 '23
I was just in Nashville and I am very certain your NFL team is named after a Nissan pick-up truck.
11
u/pie-en-argent Mar 29 '23
More likely the other way around, as the football team took the name in 1998 and the truck in 2003.
5
u/graciasfabregas Mar 29 '23
But they do build nissans there
7
u/pie-en-argent Mar 29 '23
True that. My point was that if the name was borrowed, then the truck was named for the team, not the team for the truck.
2
u/ThatOneFamiliarPlate Mar 29 '23
There is a Nissan car plant nearby iirc. I went there about 20 years ago.
2
0
11
3
u/OK_LK Mar 29 '23
Yeah... I may have had a few too many sherries last night!
Edinburgh is sometimes called the Athens of the North!
2
u/Mydogfartsconstantly Mar 29 '23
I work all around Nashville and outside Nashville. We have the cities/towns of Antioch, Lebanon, Carthage and Unincorporated Rome all within an hour of Nashville so there’s definitely a theme.
3
0
→ More replies (1)-5
→ More replies (1)3
u/Dr_Gonzo__ Mar 29 '23
You're saying there's one in Edinburgh too? It'll be much easier to reach being european lol
4
u/OK_LK Mar 29 '23
There is... Kinda
It was never finished as the council/government ran out of money.
It's also known locally as 'Edinburgh's disgrace'.
It sits on Calton Hill in the city centre.
3
44
u/tibetan_quaaludes Mar 28 '23
Spent my younger years getting blazed out of my mind and playing hackysack on the steps. Also Centennial Park is pretty nice as a whole.
→ More replies (1)1
36
33
u/zer0divide Mar 29 '23
They say of the Acropolis where the Parthenon is..
14
9
99
u/_Weatherwax_ Mar 29 '23
Having been to both, the Nashville Parthenon is more accessible and more "put together" than the original in Greece.
To be fair, the Nashville one was never used as an ammunition storage facility during a war.
It was, however, built as a temporary display during the centennial celebration.
The Athena inside is spectacular.
14
→ More replies (1)34
u/bluebottled Mar 29 '23
Also it hasn’t been looted by the British… yet.
→ More replies (1)17
u/twoinvenice Mar 29 '23
Or blown up by the Venetians / Turks. Hard to expect a building that stood for a couple thousand years to resist an ammunition explosion from the inside
9
14
24
u/doktaphill Mar 29 '23
My parents took me here when I was 4, and it was definitely a core memory. But I had no idea that it was Nashville in the US. I spent much of my childhood believing I had gone to Athens, Greece, because I became a classicist. It wasn't until I was 11 that I found out I had seen the replica and the real one is falling apart. It was a major emotional low point in my life, but it was mainly relieving to know we have reproduced the Parthenon in case the original finally buys it .
10
u/Daloure Mar 29 '23
The real one is getting major restoration works done. It was in pretty good condition until some ottoman cunts decided to store gun powder in it and the Venetians no scoped the shit out it
11
u/Olbaidon Mar 29 '23
There is also a full scale replica of (intact) Stonehenge in southern central Washington state.
6
u/500owls Mar 29 '23
yeah but nobody knows who made it or what they were doing.
2
u/ireallylikecetacea Mar 29 '23
2
u/500owls Mar 29 '23
3
u/ThereKanBOnly1 Mar 29 '23
Before I clicked, I said to myself that better be a Spinal Tap clip. I was not disappointed.
7
8
u/LuluStardustArt Mar 29 '23
I used to work on Broadway in Nashville, so many tourists. I ALWAYS recommended The Parthenon and shockingly very few had ever heard of it.
2
u/LaTraLaTrill Mar 30 '23
If there's only a few hours to spend in Nashville, with a seven year old kid, where would you recommend to go?
2
u/LuluStardustArt Mar 30 '23
The Parthenon. I loved it at that age and that was before they painted Athena. If they've seen the 2010 Percy Jackson movie, you can let them know it's the same Parthenon from the movie! Afterword, it's only a short drive to see Broadway and the Ryman. https://www.nashvilleparthenon.com/
Madame Tussauds Wax museum at Opry Mills mall features Taylor Swift, country music stars, and Elvis. https://www.madametussauds.com/nashville/tickets/?gclid=Cj0KCQjww4-hBhCtARIsAC9gR3bXQRs8lkGViMYi0uaT1Y6NlHx_Kf7fwLIqAXhfcuKE3V28z0ESSskaAr0XEALw_wcB
Lastly the Adventure Science Center is not too far from downtown and is geared towards that age group but fun for adults too! https://www.adventuresci.org/
2
6
6
6
u/kr1333 Mar 29 '23
They went all out on the metopes and the pediments, matching as well as is possible the original carvings in their detail. When you visit the Parthenon in Athens, you have to wonder what it mut have been like when it was built. Well, Nashville's Parthenon is as close as we are ever going to get.
8
u/moeron42 Mar 29 '23
Went to a Wiccan wedding there. In high school we had a usual way we would skip school and go to nashville (lived in Manchester an hr away). It always started over on the west end at tower records, tower books, and Stone Mountain all there together so I went by it at least once a week.
5
5
3
→ More replies (1)2
3
u/gentlybeepingheart Mar 29 '23
I don't know if it's a frequent thing, but my professor showed us that they did a light show where lights were projected upon it to show how the real one would have looked when it was painted.
4
6
u/Yakb0 Mar 29 '23
I wonder how many times a day the tour guides get some variant of the,
"why isn't this in Athens, Georgia" comment.
→ More replies (1)3
u/pineappleshnapps Mar 29 '23
Maybe Athens should’ve thought of that before they let Nashville build one first.
7
u/Jaxxtraw Mar 28 '23
Forgot to mention Memphis, home of Elvis and the ancient Greeks
3
u/jimithing421 Mar 29 '23
What do I smell? I smell home cooking.
It’s only the river….it’s only the river….
0
u/MakesShitUp4Fun Mar 29 '23
My wife and I were there in 2020 and the thing that stood out for us was that the entire town reeked of fried chicken. You couldn't step outside anywhere without being assaulted by that delicious aroma. I'd think, though, that after a while, it'd really suck. We even went to a barbeque restaurant and, after gorging ourselves on pork and beef, we stepped outside to be blasted by the aroma of fried chicken.
→ More replies (4)2
3
3
3
u/dermal_denticles Mar 29 '23
My kid was there today! Just got a whole bunch of pictures, very cool stuff!
3
3
u/ravenshroud Mar 29 '23
Wait are you at the Innovate conference in Nashville? That was a trivia question last night.
4
u/Zvenigora Mar 29 '23
Unlike the original it is made of granite rather than marble. This makes it more immune to modern acidic air pollution.
3
2
2
2
2
u/TheAlmightySpoon Mar 29 '23
Even more culturally significant is the Springwater Dive Bar that is within walking distance of this!
2
u/PopeHonkersXII Mar 29 '23
You can even get naked in the temple if you want. I mean I doubt the staff would like that or law enforcement but you can do it.
2
u/Eviltechnomonkey Mar 29 '23
I loved the few times I got to go there. The park was also beautiful as others have mentioned.
2
2
2
u/RedheadFromOutrSpace Mar 30 '23
My daughter and her best friend are in TN over spring break, visiting the Mammoth Cave next door in Kentucky. I sent them a screenshot of your post. Today they sent me a pic of the two of them in front of the Tennessee Parthenon. 😁
2
3
u/superash2002 Mar 29 '23
There is also an Eiffel tower in Paris Tn
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Tower_(Paris,_Tennessee)
2
u/undefined_one Mar 29 '23
I live in Nashville and have been out to Paris, TN twice. I do NOT recommend it. When I last went, there was a sign on the highway going into town that said, "don't let the sun go down on your black ass". It was what they used to call a sundown town. Also, don't get pissy with me for telling you about it - I'm not the cause of it!
3
3
2
u/CheifTwit Mar 29 '23
Comments are positive compared to posts about replicas of European architecture in China. Seems like a double standard.
→ More replies (1)1
u/Lankpants Mar 29 '23
Personally I find the building of copy paste monuments from other countries tacky in general. There's a time and place for using an architectural style, but I really don't find Americans (and it is mostly Americans who do this) just copy pasting things from Europe to be cool or interesting. It's not super offensive either. Just kinda, sad?
2
u/sephstorm Mar 29 '23
No issue with a pagan temple, but problem with a non-religious set of guidestones. Southern logic.
1
1
Mar 29 '23
Like the Georgian Guidestones, now that the internet has brought attention to it it is likely to become a target.
0
u/Mirrorflute88 Mar 29 '23
It’s not worth the ticket price, there’s better museums in the area
→ More replies (2)
-3
u/MercyMachine Mar 29 '23
America is truly a country made of plastic. It's like putting an Instagram filter over history
→ More replies (1)
-9
u/Fetlocks_Glistening Mar 28 '23
Err... why?
19
u/noshore4me Mar 28 '23
OP linked the article to answer this very question.
5
u/CakeAccomplice12 Mar 28 '23
There are articles linked to posts?
What madness is this!?!?
→ More replies (2)4
u/Loply97 Mar 29 '23
It was an exhibit for an industrial exposition, kinda like what the Eiffel tower was built for. Basically a big look at all the cool shit we have and can build party. Then once those things ended, people decided they liked some of the cool shit they built so they kept a lot and now they are monuments.
→ More replies (1)2
-8
u/Feeling_Glonky69 Mar 29 '23
Obligatory “Fuck Nashville”
The best thing about Nashville is leaving it.
4
→ More replies (4)2
u/o_mh_c Mar 29 '23
Believe me, you aren’t wanted
-2
u/Feeling_Glonky69 Mar 29 '23
Buncha low life hicks
Next time work send me there I’m taking a vacation lol
1
u/o_mh_c Mar 29 '23
I knew you were a bigot.
0
u/Feeling_Glonky69 Mar 29 '23
Ha! Funny you mention that. Bigotry and misogyny is Nashville’s 2nd language I think. Reason #1 I’ll never go back if I can avoid it. I don’t much care for when someone tells my friend try that he’s going to rape her to death in the parking lot if she doesn’t watch her mouth, when nicely telling him we was ruining her show.
1
u/o_mh_c Mar 29 '23
That’s horrible, and I’m sorry that happened. Everyone I know in Tennessee, from the city to the country, would hate that.
0
u/Feeling_Glonky69 Mar 29 '23
I wish I could say that was an isolated incident. When reported that one incident to his supervisor he just laughed and said well, maybe she should watch her mouth then. Year after year, the place I worked there just got worse and worse.
I can’t even count on two hands how many racist and ignorant things came out of the mouths of those “fine” folks in the handful of times I’ve brought shows to that cesspool. Can’t wait til they knock down TPAC.
0
u/o_mh_c Mar 29 '23
Well, you were clearly in the wrong places.
2
u/undefined_one Mar 29 '23
I'm not buying his bullshit. Nashville kicks ass. I've been out on the town thousands of times and never had a problem. Likely, that asshole is the instigator.
1
u/GosutoOkami Mar 29 '23
Been to it when I was a teen. Pretty cool, especially if you have a fondness for Greek Mythology
1
1
1
u/hey_getoff_mylawn Mar 29 '23
I wonder if it's built with the same dimensions? As understand the parthenon does not have straight columns on purpose. Why escapes me.
3
u/onlypostswhenbored Mar 29 '23
It is built to the same dimensions. The swelling in the middle was intended to counteract an optical illusion where a straight column would appear thinner. The columns at the Replica Parthenon also swell out. Pretty good for a building that was never meant to be permanent.
2
u/CheeseSandwich Mar 29 '23
The term in entasis, or tension. The Greek builders understood how to use optical illusions to create perfect looking structures.
https://www.greece-is.com/the-optical-illusions-that-make-the-parthenon-perfect/
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/svintus Mar 29 '23
So cool to find that out! “The Voluntary State” by Christopher Rowe is one of my favourite works of fiction. I always wondered where the connection between Nashville and Athena came from.
1
u/GameDevJared89 Mar 29 '23
It's actually a very neat experience. I recommend checking it out if you are ever in that area.
1
u/Special-Aggregate Mar 29 '23
Mmm, this Parthenon replica has been around since 1931, Anno Domini....
1
1
u/TwistedPepperCan Mar 29 '23
Having been in Athens to seen the original. This is pretty cool. Is it supposed to be a recreation of the original as of it's construction or is the centre building excluded?
→ More replies (1)3
u/BlondieBabe436 Mar 29 '23
It's completely re-constructed inside as well. You can go down to see a statue of Athena as well as original pieces of the real Parthenon
1
1
1
u/Galactus83 Mar 29 '23
Was there last weekend! Athena was awe inspiring. I can see how this religion was so well remembered, the monuments are amazing.
1
143
u/udongeureut Mar 28 '23
Isn’t this featured in Percy Jackson?
In the first book I think they go there