A minaret was added to the Parthenon under Ottoman rule, when the ancient temple was converted into a mosque. The Ottoman conquest of Athens occurred in the 15th century, and the building was used as a mosque before the end of that century.
The minaret was not an entirely new freestanding structure. A tower constructed during the earlier Latin, or Frankish, occupation of Athens was extended upward and adapted for use as a minaret. Other changes turned the Parthenon into an Islamic place of worship: the apse became a mihrab, a minbar was installed, and Christian furnishings and imagery were removed or covered.
This history is easy to confuse with the Parthenon’s later destruction. In 1687, during the Morean War, Venetian artillery caused a devastating explosion after the Ottomans used the building as a gunpowder magazine. That event happened under Ottoman rule but did not add a dome, belfry, or bell tower.
The minaret later disappeared after the Greek War of Independence and subsequent alterations to the Acropolis. Its presence is documented in historical accounts and representations of the monument during the Ottoman period.