Editing Athens (section)

===Ottoman Athens===
{{Main|Ottoman Greece}}
[[File:Monastiraki Square in Athens (30996716898).jpg|thumb|[[Tzistarakis Mosque]], an [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] mosque, built in 1759, in [[Monastiraki]] Square]]
[[File:Peytier - Mosque in the Parthenon.jpg|thumb|right|The second [[Parthenon mosque]] in the ruined [[Parthenon]], which was destroyed by a [[Siege of the Acropolis (1687)|Venetian bombardment in 1687]], depicted by [[Pierre Peytier]] in the 1830s]]

The first [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] attack on Athens, which involved a short-lived occupation of the town, came in 1397, under the Ottoman generals [[Yaqub Pasha]] and Timurtash.<ref name="EI2"/> Finally, in 1458, Athens was captured by the Ottomans under the personal leadership of Sultan [[Mehmed II]].<ref name="EI2"/> As the Ottoman Sultan rode into the city, he was greatly struck by the beauty of its ancient monuments and issued a ''[[firman]]'' (imperial edict) forbidding their looting or destruction, on pain of death. The [[Parthenon]] was converted into the [[Parthenon mosque|main mosque]] of the city.<ref name=tung/>

Under Ottoman rule, Athens was denuded of any importance and its population severely declined, leaving it as a "small country town" ([[Franz Babinger]]).<ref name="EI2"/> From the early 17th century, Athens came under the jurisdiction of the [[Kizlar Agha]], the chief black eunuch of the [[Imperial Harem|Sultan's harem]]. The city had originally been granted by Sultan [[Ahmed I]] ({{reign|1603|1617}}) to Basilica, one of his favourite concubines, who hailed from the city, in response of complaints of maladministration by the local governors. After her death, Athens came under the purview of the Kizlar Agha.<ref>{{cite book |last = Augustinos |first = Olga |chapter = Eastern Concubines, Western Mistresses: Prévost's ''Histoire d'une Grecque moderne'' |page=24 |editor1-last = Buturović |editor1-first = Amila |editor2-last = Schick |editor2-first = İrvin Cemil |title = Women in the Ottoman Balkans: Gender, Culture and History |year = 2007 |publisher = I.B. Tauris |location = London and New York |isbn = 978-1-84511-505-0 |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xEHnuObu1D4C&pg=PA24}}</ref>

The Turks began a practice of storing gunpowder and explosives in the Parthenon and [[Propylaea (Acropolis of Athens)|Propylaea]]. In 1640, a lightning bolt struck the Propylaea, causing its destruction.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ancient-greece.org/history/acropolis-ottoman.html |title=and (Dontas, The Acropolis and its Museum, 16) |publisher=Ancient-greece.org |date=21 April 2007 |access-date=22 March 2009}}</ref> In 1687, during the [[Morean War]], the Acropolis [[Siege of the Acropolis (1687)|was besieged]] by the Venetians under [[Francesco Morosini]], and the [[temple of Athena Nike]] was dismantled by the Ottomans to fortify the Parthenon. A shot fired during the bombardment of the Acropolis caused a powder magazine in the Parthenon to explode (26 September), and the building was severely damaged, giving it largely the appearance it has today. The Venetian occupation of Athens lasted for six months, and both the Venetians and the Ottomans participated in the looting of the Parthenon. One of its western pediments was removed, causing even more damage to the structure.<ref name=tung/><ref name="EI2"/> During the Venetian occupation, the two mosques of the city were converted into Catholic and Protestant churches, but on 9 April 1688 the Venetians abandoned Athens again to the Ottomans.<ref name="EI2"/>