Ancient Greece lives on in Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville isn't all country music, southern food and whisky. It's also ancient Greece.

The Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee.

This full-scale replica of the Greek Parthenon stands in a beautiful Nashville park.

Visitors are as likely to check out the museum inside as they are to walk or bicycle along the nearby paths. A handful of runners use the covered portico as the gorgeous and unlikely setting for their daily workouts. On this day, one young man stood on the steps of the Parthenon, hoisted a guitar above his head and posed for what would undoubtedly become his awesome debut album cover.

The story of this out-of-place monument begins with the 1897 Centennial Exposition. For that event, the fairgrounds were littered with such monuments to help establish the worldy atmosphere. The monuments, including the Parthenon, a pyramid and others, were made of cheap, temporary materials and destined for removal at the fair's end.

During the course of the fair, however, the people of Tennessee grew attached to the full-scale Parthenon building, so it was re-built from permanent materials to remain standing forever in Nashville.

Outside, the building looks the part. Only up close could we find a few spots that revealed the plaster or cement of modern construction versus the ancient stone that one would surely find in Greece.

Inside, a cramped museum gallery betrays the authenticity, but it does help convey the history of the building and the fair, as outlined above.

Literally the biggest surprise awaits in one of two suddenly and shockingly spacious exhibit rooms.

Athena looms large inside the Parthenon.

This six-story-tall statue of the Greek goddess Athena is as impressive for its size as it is for its color and detail.

The figures and markings depicted in Athena's crown, on her shield and sandals, and below her on the statue's base, all tell their own ancient stories.

The size, though: the winged god standing in the palm of Athena's hand is a life-sized, six-feet tall in his own right.

Fist bump.

Surrounded by spectacle and the combined histories of Tennessee and ancient Greece, we wrapped up our Parthenon tour by posing for the silly photo above and exited through the park, back to our car. Next stop: Belle Meade Plantation.