Park
Centennial Park
Full-scale replica of the ancient Athens temple, home to a forty-two-foot gilded statue of Athena.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Centennial Park in Nashville centers on the park's full-scale Parthenon replica and the modern pilgrims who still come to pray at its forty-two-foot statue of Athena. It traces the temple from a temporary Centennial Exposition attraction in eighteen ninety-seven to its permanent rebuilding and the decades-long effort to give it a goddess worthy of the name, sculpted by Alan LeQuire. You'll hear why present-day worshippers still leave flowers at her feet in the heart of the Bible Belt. Best heard standing before the statue itself, beneath the gilded Nike in her palm.
This audio guide was created using AI.