page_title: Temple of Athena Nike
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Temple of Athena Nike / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Nikè à la sandale. Une des plaques de la bande sculptée qui entourait le temple d'Athéna Nikè sur trois côtés&#160;: elle était située sur le côté Sud. Une Nikè est représentée penchée vers l'avant, peut-être pour dénouer sa sandale et marcher pieds nus vers l'autel qui devait être représenté devant elle, mais qui est perdu. Vers 420-410 av. J.-C. English: Nike with the sandal. Relief from the temple of Athena Nike. ca 420-410 BC
context_page_description: The Temple of Athena Nike is a temple on the Acropolis of Athens, dedicated to the goddess Athena Nike. Built around 420 BC, the temple is the earliest fully Ionic temple on the Acropolis. It has a prominent position on a steep bastion at the south west corner of the Acropolis to the right of the entrance, the Propylaea. In contrast to the Acropolis proper, a walled sanctuary entered through the Propylaea, the Victory Sanctuary was open, entered from the Propylaea's southwest wing and from a narrow stair on the north. The sheer walls of its bastion were protected on the north, west, and south by the Nike Parapet, named for its frieze of Nikai celebrating victory and sacrificing to their patroness, Athena Nike.
  Nike means "victory" in Greek, and Athena was worshipped in this form, representative of being victorious in war. The citizens worshipped the goddess in hopes of a successful outcome in the long Peloponnesian War fought against the Spartans and their allies.
context_section_description: The Temple of Athena Nike was finished around 420 BC, during the Peace of Nicias. It is a tetrastyle (four column) Ionic structure with a colonnaded portico at both front and rear facades (amphiprostyle), designed by the architect Kallikrates. The columns along the east and west fronts were monolithic columns. The temple ran 8 metres (27 ft) long by 5.5 metres (18.5 ft) wide and 7 metres (23 ft) tall.  The total height from the stylobate to the acme of the pediment while the temple remained intact was a modest 7 metres (23 ft). The ratio of height to diameter of the columns is 7:1, the slender proportions creating an elegance and refinement not encountered in the normal 9:1 or 10:1 of Ionic buildings. Constructed from white Pentelic marble, it was built in stages as war-starved funding allowed.
caption: A relief from the parapet around the temple which shows an ancient goddess fixing her sandal. It is housed at the Acropolis Museum
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