Editing Parthenon (section)

===Partial destruction===
[[File:MotarFragmentFromParthenon-BritishMuseum-August21-08.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Fragment of an exploded shell found on top of a wall in the Parthenon, thought to originate from the time of the Venetian siege]]
As part of the [[Morean War|Morean War (1684–1699)]], the [[Republic of Venice|Venetians]] sent an expedition led by [[Francesco Morosini]] to [[Siege of the Acropolis (1687)|attack Athens]] and capture the Acropolis. The Ottomans fortified the Acropolis and used the Parthenon as a [[gunpowder magazine]] – despite having been forewarned of the dangers of this use by the 1656 explosion that severely damaged the [[Propylaea (Acropolis of Athens)|Propylaea]] – and as a shelter for members of the local Turkish community.<ref name="Tomkinson2">{{cite web |last=Tomkinson |first=John L. |title=Venetian Athens: Venetian Interlude (1684–1689) |publisher=Anagnosis Books |url=http://www.anagnosis.gr/index.php?la=eng&pageID=217 |access-date=14 August 2012 |archive-date=4 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004221546/http://www.anagnosis.gr/index.php?la=eng&pageID=217 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 26 September 1687 a Venetian mortar round, fired from the [[Philopappos Monument|Hill of Philopappos]], blew up the magazine.<ref name="AcropolisRestoration" /><ref>Theodor E. Mommsen, ''The Venetians in Athens and the Destruction of the Parthenon in 1687'', American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 45, No. 4 (October–December 1941), pp. 544–556.</ref> The explosion blew out the building's central portion and caused the cella's walls to crumble into rubble.<ref name="Rathus" /> According to Greek architect and archaeologist Kornilia Chatziaslani:<ref name="Chatziaslani" />

{{Blockquote|text=...three of the sanctuary's four walls nearly collapsed and three-fifths of the sculptures from the frieze fell. Nothing of the roof apparently remained in place. Six columns from the south side fell, eight from the north, as well as whatever remained from the eastern porch, except for one column. The columns brought down with them the enormous marble architraves, triglyphs, and metopes.}}

About three hundred people were killed in the explosion, which showered marble fragments over nearby Turkish defenders<ref name="Tomkinson2" /> and sparked fires that destroyed many homes.<ref name="Chatziaslani" />

[[File:Parthenon (3388138127).jpg|thumb|The southern side of the Parthenon, which sustained considerable damage in the 1687 explosion (photo taken in 2009)|upright=1.2]]
Accounts written at the time conflict over whether this destruction was deliberate or accidental; one such account, written by the German officer Sobievolski, states that a Turkish deserter revealed to Morosini the use to which the Turks had put the Parthenon; expecting that the Venetians would not target a building of such historic importance. Morosini was said to have responded by directing his artillery to aim at the Parthenon.<ref name="Chatziaslani" /><ref name="Tomkinson2" /> Subsequently, Morosini sought to loot sculptures from the ruin and caused further damage in the process. Sculptures of [[Poseidon]] and Athena's horses fell to the ground and smashed as his soldiers tried to detach them from the building's west pediment.<ref name="Hurwit293" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Palagia |first=Olga |title=The Pediments of the Parthenon |edition=2 |publisher=Brill |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GFNuxcVKLIkC&pg=PA10 |isbn=978-90-04-11198-1 |year=1998 |access-date=14 August 2012 |archive-date=28 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628093213/https://books.google.com/books?id=GFNuxcVKLIkC&pg=PA10#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1688 the Venetians abandoned Athens to avoid a confrontation with a large force the Turks had assembled at [[Chalcis]]; at that time, the Venetians had considered blowing up what remained of the Parthenon along with the rest of the Acropolis to deny its further use as a fortification to the Turks, but that idea was not pursued.<ref name="Tomkinson2" />

Once the Turks had recaptured the Acropolis, they used some of the rubble produced by this explosion to erect a smaller mosque within the shell of the ruined Parthenon.<ref name="Tomkinson3">{{cite web |last=Tomkinson |first=John L. |title=Ottoman Athens II: Later Ottoman Athens (1689–1821) |publisher=Anagnosis Books |url=http://www.anagnosis.gr/index.php?la=eng&pageID=218 |access-date=14 August 2012 |archive-date=6 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806130324/http://www.anagnosis.gr/index.php?pageID=218&la=eng |url-status=live }}</ref> For the next century and a half, parts of the remaining structure were looted for building material and especially valuable objects.<ref name="Grafton">{{cite book |last1=Grafton |first1=Anthony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LbqF8z2bq3sC&pg=PA693 |title=The Classical Tradition |last2=Most |first2=Glenn W. |last3=Settis |first3=Salvatore |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-674-03572-0 |page=693 |access-date=23 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628093157/https://books.google.com/books?id=LbqF8z2bq3sC&pg=PA693#v=onepage&q&f=false |archive-date=28 June 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The 18th century was a period of [[Sick man of Europe|Ottoman stagnation]]—so that many more Europeans found access to Athens, and the picturesque ruins of the Parthenon were much drawn and painted, spurring a rise in [[philhellenism]] and helping to arouse sympathy in Britain and France for Greek independence. Amongst those early travellers and archaeologists were [[James Stuart (1713–1788)|James Stuart]] and [[Nicholas Revett]], who were commissioned by the [[Society of Dilettanti]] to survey the ruins of classical Athens. They produced the first measured drawings of the Parthenon, published in 1787 in the second volume of ''Antiquities of Athens Measured and Delineated''.

From 1801 to 1812, agents of [[Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin]], removed about half the surviving Parthenon sculptures, sending them to Britain in efforts to establish a private museum. Elgin stated he removed the sculptures with permission of the Ottoman officials who exercised authority in Athens at the time.<ref name=":8">{{cite book |last=Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on the Earl of Elgin's Collection of Sculptured Marbles. |url=https://archive.org/details/gri_33125008272383 |title=Report from the Select Committee of the House of Commons on the Earl of Elgin's collection of sculptured marbles |date=1816 |publisher=Printed for J. Murray, by W. Bulmer and Co. |place=London}}</ref> The legality of Elgin's actions has been disputed.<ref>{{cite book |last=Herman |first=Alexander |author-link= |url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/parthenon-marbles-dispute-9781509967179/ |title=The Parthenon Marbles Dispute |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]] |year=2023 |isbn=978-1509967179 |edition= |place=London |pages=1–3}}</ref><ref name=":2" />