Pericles appointed Ictinos ( for the architectural structure) and Phidias (for the decorative sculptures) as designers of the Parthenon. The works started in 447 BC supervised by Phidias. Pericles wanted this building, dediceated to Athena patron of Athens, to be the symbol of the power of the City. The parthenon differs in many ways from the classical greek temple, and these differences made it one of the most admired work of architecture in the world. The temple was built to valorize the colossal cult statue of Athena made of wood, gold and ivory creating a space wide enough for the aestetical placement of the statue. In fact the cella of the Parthenon is unusually large and the placement of the internal columns is unconventional. The larger cella forced Ictinos to use 8 coloumns in the front (instead of the usual 6). Another peculiarity of the temple is the presence of a back chamber not connected to the cella called Parthenon which actually gave the name to the entire monument. This chamber was used by young athenian girls who weaved the peplos offered to the goddess during the panathenian games. In this smaller chamber the architect used the thinner and more refined Ionic columns. After the Parthenon the association of this two orders from an oddity became the rule. The temple, built wholly in Pentelic marble, is peripteral (link), its walls being surrounded by a colonnade of 46 Doric columns. The four methopes depicts different subjects: the battle of gods and giants (east), the one of Centaurs and Laphitae (south), the victory of Athenians over the amazons (west) and the destruction of Troy (north). The sculptures on the eastern pediment represent the birt of the goddess and the ones on the western the strif of Athena with Poseidon for the possession of Attica. In the middle ages the temple was converted to a church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary and then into a mosque and remained in good preservation until 1687. In that year, during the siege of Athens by the Venetians, the building was blown up by the explosion of a powder magazine that the turks had stored in it. Ninety-four of the original 115 decorative panels have been saved. Thirdy-six are in Athens, 56 are in the British Museum and one is in the Louvre. Similarly of the 92 original metopes 39 are in Athens and 15 in London. The other 17 statues (including the cariatidis) are in the British Museum.