The city of Nashville built a full-scale replica of the Parthenon in 1897, and it’s still standing today

Open Culture:

Nashville, Tennessee: a full-scale replica of the Parthenon, built in 1897 for the Centennial Exposition celebrating the state’s 100th anniversary. The detailed re-creation went further than imitating a ruin. It “restored the aspects of the original Parthenon that were lost or damaged” in an interpretive re-creation of what it might have looked like.

The building held the Exposition’s art gallery and “spoke to the city’s self-declared reputation as the ‘Athens of the South.’”

When I moved to Nashville in 2002, many people made a point to tell me to visit this site. It seemed kind of silly to me (I’ve been to the actual Parthenon in Athens) but once I visited, I really loved and appreciated it and the beautiful park it was in.