Parthenon, Athens, Greece, er... Nashville, Tennessee

Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences, Universityof Wisconsin - Green Bay


Nashville turns out to be about a lot more than country music.
Way back in the early days of radio, when stations broadcast anything they could lay their hands on (maybe that's not so different after all), a country music program came on immediately following broadcasts of classical music and grand opera. So in 1927 they began calling themselves the Grand Ole Opry, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Speaking of history, Nashville is home to a full sized replica of the Parthenon. Built of plaster for Tennessee's centennial in 1897 (to proclaim Nashville's claim as the "Athens of the South"), it was replaced by a concrete structure in the 1920's. The concrete has weathered to an attractive tan, and it's in a lot better shape than the original. That's because nobody ever used it for a powder magazine.
Plaque describing the history of the replica.
Only two things lessen the effect:

1. This Parthenon isn't on a hill

2. The skyline of Nashville in the distance

One other thing: the real Parthenon has some architectural subtleties, like a slight curve to the columns, that the replica doesn't.


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Created 19 July 2007, Last Update 04 June 2020