The buildings of the Acropolis were made of marble, a very smooth, strong stone.
雅典卫城的建筑都是由大理石,一种非常光滑而坚硬的石头建成。
However, throughout history, few ancient monuments have avoided damage altogether.
然而,纵观历史,很少有历史古迹能完全免遭破坏。
The Acropolis is no different.
雅典卫城也不例外。
It has been damaged partly by natural forces like earthquakes, but the greatest damage of all has been caused by man.
它一部分毁于像地震那样的自然力,但是最严重的破坏是由人为造成的。
In 1458, the Turks defeated the Greeks and seized control of Athens.
1458年,土耳其人战胜了希腊人,掌握了雅典的控制权。
Later, they used the Parthenon as a warehouse and packed it with gunpowder.
之后,他们把帕台农神庙用作储存弹药的仓库。
In 1687, an attack from Italy caused the gunpowder to explode and a large part of the building was destroyed.
其后在1687年,意大利人的一次进攻引起火药发生巨大爆炸,帕台农神庙大部分建筑被毁。
For centuries, people also stole from the ruins and used the stones for other buildings.
几世纪以来,人们还从废墟里偷走石头,用作其它建筑。
The last major damage of this kind occurred with the theft of many of the best sculptures in 1801,
最后一次重大人为破坏发生于1801年,那一年,许多最优秀的雕塑遭窃。
when an Englishman, Lord Elgin, cut them off the face of the parthenon, and took them to London. He later sold them to the British government.
当时,一个叫埃尔金勋爵的英国人开始把这些雕塑从帕台农神庙切下来,并这带它们到了伦敦,而后把它们卖给了英国政府。
In 1816, these sculptures were turned over to the British Museum.
1816年,这些雕塑被转移到了大英博物馆。
They are still on shown there under the title of "Elgin Marbles",
现在,它们仍以“埃尔金石”的名义在展出,
This has caused some friction between Greece and Britain as the Greek government has never given up asking for the return of these marble statues.
这导致了希腊和英国之间的一些摩擦,因为希腊政府一直在坚持要求归还这些大理石雕塑。