Parthenon Coloring Pages

A Temple on the Hill of Athens

The Parthenon is an old temple in Athens, the capital of Greece.
It stands on a hill overlooking the town called the Acropolis.
It was built in the 5th century BC, more than 2,400 years ago.
It was a temple to honor Athena, the goddess who protected the city of Athens.
It was chosen as a World Heritage site in 1987 as part of the "Acropolis of Athens."

A Row of Thick Pillars

The main feature of the Parthenon is its thick stone pillars that go all the way around it.
There are 8 pillars on the front and 17 pillars on the side.
Thin, vertical grooves are carved into the surface of the pillars.
Above the pillars rest long stone beams and a triangular roof wall.
A long time ago, many sculptures were decorated here.

The Broken Temple

The Parthenon does not have a roof today.
Throughout its long history, the temple became a church and a place of worship for Islam.
In 1687, while it was being used to store gunpowder, a cannonball hit it during a war and caused a huge explosion.
Today, workers are carefully checking each broken stone one by one to put them back in their original places.

From an Angle, from Below

The first coloring page shows the Parthenon from a front angle.
You can clearly see how the front and side pillars line up into the distance.
The second page shows it looking up from below.
You can see the pillars and walls in the back through the gaps between the front pillars.
Try counting the pillars as you color them one by one!

Athena, the Goddess of Greek Mythology

Athena is the goddess of wisdom and war in Greek mythology.
It is said that the name of the city of Athens is deeply connected to this goddess.
People say that a huge statue of Athena, decorated with gold and ivory, once stood inside the temple.
The statue is not there today, but you can imagine how huge it was just by looking at the size of the temple.
On the Acropolis hill, there are several other old buildings besides the Parthenon, such as a temple with pillars shaped like women holding up the roof.
The view of Athens looking down from the top of the hill is wonderful, with white houses packed closely together.

Use Cream and Ocher for the Marble

The Parthenon is made of white marble.
But after a very long time, it looks cream-colored and light ocher today.
If you color the whole thing in light cream and then add ocher and light brown here and there, it will look like real old stone!

Make Round Pillars with Grooves

The pillars are round, so color the sunny side bright and the other side a little darker.
If you add thin lines of light brown along the vertical grooves, the pillars will start to look round!
If you color the back walls between the pillars in dark ocher, the front pillars will pop right out.

The Blue Sky of Greece

The sky in Greece is a very deep blue.
When you color the sky in deep blue or ultramarine, the cream-colored temple will really stand out!
For pictures looking up like the second one, make the sky darker at the top and lighter at the bottom to show how tall it is.

Imagine the Colors from Long Ago

People think that when the Parthenon was first built, its statues and decorations were painted in colors like red and blue.
It is fun to put your favorite colors on the triangular roof wall and the band above the pillars, and imagine how it looked long ago!
Line it up with the Colosseum coloring page and compare these old stone buildings.

Change the Colors a Bit for Broken Stones

For the broken stones lying below the temple, try changing their colors a little bit, one by one.
If you mix cream, light gray, and light brown, the piles of stone will look natural!

It Looks Straight, But It Is Actually Curved

Not everything on the Parthenon is completely straight.
The columns are a little thicker in the middle, and they all tilt slightly inward.
The floor also rises up just a tiny bit in the middle.
People say this makes the Parthenon look straight and strong when you see it from far away.

The UNESCO Mark

The symbol for UNESCO, the group that chooses World Heritage sites, looks like a temple with a row of columns.
They say this mark is based on Greek temples like the Parthenon.
Take a look at the mark when you learn about World Heritage sites!

New Stones for Repairs Look White

When people fix broken parts of the Parthenon, they add new marble.
The new stones are bright white, and the old stones are cream-colored, so you can easily tell where they fixed it.
Repairs take a very long time, and workers are still fixing it bit by bit today.

The Columns Were Made by Stacking Stones

The thick columns of the Parthenon are not made from one huge stone.
They were made by stacking many round, disk-shaped stones on top of each other.
Look at the second coloring page and try to find the side-to-side lines on the columns!