The small but exquisitely proportioned Temple of Athena Nike stands on a platform perched atop the steep southwest edge of the Acropolis, to the right of the Propylaia. Designed by Kallicrates, the temple was built of Pentelic marble between 427 BC and 424 BC. The building is almost square, with four graceful Ionic columns at either end. Only fragments remain of the frieze, which had scenes from mythology, the Battle of Plataea (479 BC) and Athenians fighting Boeotians and Persians.
Parts of the frieze are in the Acropolis Museum, as are some relief sculptures, including the beautiful depiction of Athena Nike fastening her sandal. The temple housed a wooden statue of Athena.
The Turks also took it apart in 1686 and put a huge cannon on the platform; it was carefully reconstructed between 1836 and 1842, but was taken apart again 60 years later because the platform was crumbling. The temple was once again dismantled, piece by piece, in 2003 in a controversial move to restore it offsite; it now stands resplendent after a painstaking reassembly.
