The Archaeologist

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How could the Parthenon remain standing for 2,500 years without a foundation?

The mystery is revealed after studies showed that the Parthenon Temple on the Acropolis is triple seismically shielded despite the fact that it has no foundation.

According to civil engineer Niki Timotheu, studies of the temple's architectural and structural form have shown that the ancient world had already discovered what we now call "seismic isolation". According to Niki Timotheu, the temple successfully contradicts the theory of modern construction because, without having a foundation at all, it is triple seismically insulated.

This triple insulation is located, as she explained, in different parts of the building. The first point is in the layers of huge horizontal and extremely smooth marble stones on which the Parthenon stands.

The second point is found in the elastic metal joints that connect the slabs of each layer, made up of small iron piles in the middle, around which lead has been poured (lead has the property of protecting iron from rust and weakening the elasticity of each wave, since part of its kinetic energy is converted into thermal energy).

And the third point is found in the columns of the building, which were not set in one piece, because the ancient Greeks knew that in order to withstand the vibrations of the earth, they had to be set in slices that were perfectly superimposed.

The result of this triple insulating formula, as Mrs Timotheu noted, was that the seismic waves on the surface moved one layer of the marble slabs over the other, while the joints dissipated the kinetic energy developed by the earthquake! The columns, as they were arranged, made the whole building sway, but not collapse.