If Greece is part of your travel itinerary this year, you may be in for disappointment. The west side of the Parthenon will soon undergo a year-long restorative makeover, as part of a 40-year effort to restore the ancient Acropolis of Athens following major damage during a Venetian siege in 1687. Yes it has really taken this long to get this done and it is still not over.
This will mark major changes for the archaeological monument – the crane that gets visitors to the hill-top citadel will be moved from the front of the Parthenon to inside the ancient temple. Besides the bolstering of the pediment’s pillars, rusty iron supports that hark from the early 20th century will also be removed. Strong European support funds have enabled restoration works of the Acropolis to continue despite the country’s dire economic situation.
The western pediment of the Parthenon is famed for its depiction of the epic clash between Poseidon (god of the sea) and Athena (goddess of wisdom) for Athens’ patronage. In the early 19th century, the legendary site also saw its best sculpture remnants removed and sold to the British government under orders by then British ambassador Lord Elgin.
“Most of the restoration work was completed in 2015, whereby we fixed the most important and urgent problems. Now we need to address certain other areas such as the west pediment,” said the head of the operation Vassiliki Eleftheriou.
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