Parthenon Destroyed: Venetian Bomb Hits Athens Icon
The Ottomans had been storing their gunpowder — roughly 300 barrels of it — inside the Parthenon, assuming the Venetians wouldn't dare bomb a 2,000-year-old temple. They were wrong. A Venetian mortar round hit the roof on September 26, 1687. The explosion blew out the interior, killed 300 people inside, and left the columns standing around a hollow ruin. The Parthenon had survived intact for 2,100 years of occupation, conversion, and warfare. It took one artillery shell and a bad bet on restraint to undo all of that.
September 26, 1687
339 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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