Every year, our local free weekly, The Nashville Scene, sponsors a contest inviting readers to come up with the funniest/truest/Nashvilliest ending for the sentence beginning, "You are so Nashville if...".

Several years ago, the winner was, "You are so Nashville if...you think your Parthenon is better because the other one fell apart."  It's funny, it's true and it's so Nashville!  Most Nashvillians (both the natives and the transplants) have a significant memory or two that revolves around this authentic, full-scale replica of the ancient Greek temple to Athena.  (And Robert Altman used it as the setting for the climactic scene in his brilliant film, Nashville, so even if you've never been here yourself, you know what I'm talking about.)  We are justifiably proud of this unique landmark.

But first... 

(Their Parthenon - serious code violations, and no honky-tonks for thousands of miles.)  

(Photo from timelessmyths.com)

You might be asking yourself, "Why the heck is there a Parthenon in Nashville? What does that have to do with country music?". 

Well, before Nashville also became known as "Music City U.S.A.", it was (and still is) referred to as the "Athens of the South".  Nashville is home to at least two dozen higher education institutions, most notably Vanderbilt University, located in the midtown area of the city, and Fisk University, home of the world-famous Jubilee Singers.  This is a city that values education.

In 1897, Nashville hosted the Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition, also known as the World's Fair.  The Exposition grounds were filled with pavillions and structures designed to give the fair-goer a sense of the wonders of the world all in one convenient location.  The city of Memphis even built a pyramid for the event.

But it was the Parthenon, erected to house the Fine Arts Building, and to embody, in architectural form, the city's moniker, that truly captured the imagination of the 1.8 million visitors to the fair.  So much so that the city decided to let it stand after the Exposition had ended.  The grounds became what is now known as Centennial Park, a beautifully landscaped urban oasis on West End Avenue.  Lake Watauga also remains as a prominent feature of the park, and is a place where people gather to fish (for what, I'm not exactly sure) and feed the ducks and geese that call it home.

Now, as time passed, our Parthenon, being built of brick, wood and plaster, did begin to fall apart, much like her namesake in Athens.  But in the 1920's, it was rebuilt in concrete, and still undergoes occasional renovations to keep it looking purty.  (Driving along West End at night,  even though I've seen it a thousand times, catching a momentary glimpse of it all lit up still makes me smile.)

In 1990, a significant addition was made to the inside of the Parthenon, in the form of a 42-foot statue, covered in gold leaf, of the goddess Athena.  Although the original was long lost, sculptor Alan LeQuire recreated it to conform to scholarly standards of what it was thought to look like.  Athena Parthenos is the largest free-standing interior statue in the western hemisphere.

(Athenos Parthenos - every bit as flashy as Dolly Parton, but a lot less busty.) 

(Photo from nashville.gov website.)

Also housed in the Parthenon is a dandy permanent art collection, featuring 63 paintings by American artists.  There are two smaller galleries, with rotating exhibitions.  You can spend a wonderful afternoon touring the museum and wandering the lovely park grounds.  Centennial Park and the Parthenon are very popular spots for bridal party photographs, family picnics, cultural festivals, dog-walking and frisbee tossing.  Hardly a weekend goes by without somebody having a big party there.

So, if you're ever in this neck of the woods, y'all come see our Parthenon, ya' hear?

 (Photos by Jim DeMain)