Centennial Park in Nashville, Tennessee has a long and rich history. The Nashville Parthenon was constructed in 1897 as part of the Centennial Exposition, a six-month event held to celebrate Tennessee’s 100 years of statehood. Nashville had been colloquially known as the ‘Athens of the South’ – due primarily to the city’s focus on higher education – long before the Exposition. It is no surprise, then, that the city was chosen to be the site of the Exposition’s centerpiece.

The Parthenon was unique in that it was the only building in the Exposition that was an exact replica of its original. Visitors can even see replicas of the Elgin Marbles (marble pieces that were once part of the architecture of the original Parthenon) lining the walls of the museum inside. While the first version of the Parthenon replica was not built to last long after the Exposition, it quickly gained popularity among residents and tourists alike. As a result, it was rebuilt in 1920 in order to serve as a lasting monument to classical architecture. Today, it remains the only full-scale replica of the Parthenon in the world.

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