Editing Elgin Marbles (section)

==Background==
The Parthenon was built on the Acropolis of Athens from 447 BCE as a temple to the goddess Athena. It is likely that Phidias was responsible for the sculptural design. In subsequent centuries the building was converted into a church and a mosque and the sculptures were extensively damaged, although the building remained structurally sound.<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=12–13, 19–20}}</ref> During the [[Morean War|Sixth Ottoman–Venetian War (1684–1699)]], the defending Turks fortified the Acropolis and used the Parthenon as a gunpowder store. On 26 September 1687, a Venetian artillery round ignited the gunpowder, and the resulting explosion blew out the central portion of the Parthenon and caused the [[cella]]'s walls to crumble into rubble.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mommsen |first=Theodor E. |year=1941 |title=The Venetians in Athens and the Destruction of the Parthenon in 1687 |journal=American Journal of Archaeology |volume=45 |issue=4 |pages=544–556 |doi=10.2307/499533 |jstor=499533}}</ref><ref name="Rathus">{{cite book | last = Fichner-Rathus | first = Lois | title = Understanding Art | publisher = Cengage Learning |edition = 10th | year = 2012 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=JPlYOG52w2UC&pg=PT324 | page = 305 |isbn=978-1-111-83695-5}}</ref> Three of the four walls collapsed, or nearly so, and about three-fifths of the sculptures from the frieze fell.<ref name="Chatziaslani">{{cite web |last=Chatziaslani |first=Kornilia |title=Morosini in Athens |publisher=Archaeology of the City of Athens |url=http://www.eie.gr/archaeologia/En/chapter_more_8.aspx | access-date=14 August 2012}}</ref> About 300 people were killed in the explosion, which showered marble fragments over a significant area.<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> For the next century and a half, portions of the remaining structure were scavenged for building material and many valuable objects were removed.<ref name="Grafton">{{cite book|last = Grafton| first = Anthony|author2=Glenn W. Most |author3=Salvatore Settis | title = The Classical Tradition| publisher = Harvard University Press| year = 2010| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LbqF8z2bq3sC&pg=PA693 |page=693 |isbn=978-0-674-03572-0}}</ref><ref name=":13" />