Felipe Arraño’s Reviews > Athens: A History, From Ancient Ideal to Modern City > Status Update

In 1453, with the fall of the remnants of the Byzantine Empire, Greece became part of what would become known as European Turkey (Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, etc.) (p. 281). During the Ottoman ruling, Greece was more or less cut off from all the major intellectual and social movements of Western Europe, from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment (p. 283). Approximately one every five Greek boys was handed over the Turkish authorities, brought up as Muslims, and destined to join the civil service or the army (p. 284). On 26 September 1687, Venetians bombarded the Parthenon, where Turks, gunpowder, women and children were, the temple was irreparably damaged (p. 287). In the following years, Turks and Greeks broke bits off the remains and ruins of the Parthenon and sold them to tourists (p. 291). British museum and the Greek marbles (p. 293).