Facade of the Parthenon statue

The facade of the Parthenon — eight Doric columns rising to a pediment that once held the most celebrated sculptures of the Greek world — is the single most influential image of Western architecture. Built between 447 and 432 BC by Iktinos, Kallikrates, and Phidias, it stood essentially intact until 1687, when a Venetian shell ignited Ottoman gunpowder stored inside. Even ruined, its facade continues to define what a temple should look like.