Page "Acropolis of Athens" Paragraph 9

Around 500 BC the Ur-Parthenon was dismantled to make place for a newer and grander building, the " Older Parthenon " ( often called Pro-Parthenon, " early Parthenon ").

Athenians decided to stop the construction of the Olympieion which was related with the tyrant Peisistratus and his sons and instead used the Piraeus limestone destined for the Olympieion to build the Older Parthenon.

To accommodate it, the south part of the summit was cleared, made level by adding some 8, 000 two-ton blocks of limestone, a foundation deep at some points, and the rest filled with earth kept in place by the retaining wall.

However, after the victorious Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, they decided to revise the plan and use marble instead.

The limestone phase of the building is referred to as Pro-Parthenon I while the marble phase of the building as Pro-Parthenon II.

In 485 BC, construction stalled to save recources as Xerxes took the throne.