The Columns of the Parthenon towering above Athens, one of the cradles of European civilization

For more than two millennia, the columns of the Parthenon have been towering above Athens, one of the cradles of European civilization. The people who erected this and similar marvellous structures during Classical Antiquity were the founding fathers of modern day science, law and philosophy. Their legacy has been mediated and passed on by generations of Europeans throughout the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, onto us, the 21st century inhabitants of this great continent. Ancient Greek Temples, of which the Parthenon is the most famous, do not belong to Greece alone. Not only Italians are justifiably overwhelmed by pride at the sight of the majestic Roman colosseum. The Era of Classical Antiquity constituted the genesis of our civilization, and therefore, belongs to every European, now and in the future.