Since the 15th century, Greece had been ruled by the Ottoman Empire, whose troops had converted the Acropolis into a garrison, and whose sultan, Mehmed II, had turned the Parthenon itself into a ...

(Mary Beard) "The whole Parthenon - not only the sculptures but the building - became emblematic, the symbol of new Greece. It still is, and we're still restoring it, and naturally, of course ...