Nashville, Tennessee
The Parthenon in Nashville is a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens, Greece. Located in Centennial Park, it was originally built for Tennessee's 1897 Centennial Exposition to celebrate the state's 100th anniversary. Due to its immense popularity, the structure was rebuilt in permanent materials in the 1920s and stands today as a monument to classical architecture and Nashville's reputation as the "Athens of the South" for its dedication to higher education.
Inside, the Parthenon functions as an art museum, housing a permanent collection of 19th and 20th-century American paintings. Its most breathtaking feature is the 42-foot-tall statue of Athena Parthenos, the tallest indoor sculpture in the Western world. This gilded masterpiece recreates the lost original statue from ancient Greece, providing visitors with an awe-inspiring glimpse into the scale and grandeur of the classical world right in the heart of Tennessee.