What was the Parthenon used as after the Ottoman conquest?

After the Ottoman conquest, the Parthenon was used as a mosque. Ottoman forces captured the Acropolis in the mid-15th century, and the former Christian church was adapted for Islamic worship.

The conversion involved relatively limited structural changes. The apse was repurposed as a mihrab, a minbar was installed, Christian furnishings and imagery were removed or covered, and an existing tower was enlarged to serve as a minaret. The building remained substantially intact during this period.

The wording can cause a common mix-up because the Parthenon had several later functions. It had first been an ancient temple dedicated to Athena, then a Christian church, and later a mosque. After a Venetian bombardment in 1687 destroyed much of the structure, the Ottomans built a smaller mosque inside the ruined shell. That second mosque was removed in 1843 as archaeological work began.