A new phase in the ongoing CCAM restoration of the Acropolis site in Athens

Further coverage of the next phase of restoration work on the west pediment of the Parthenon.

The West end of the Parthenon

From:
CTV News (Canada)

Parthenon to get a boost as part of Greek Acropolis restoration
AFP
Published Friday, August 5, 2016 8:09AM EDT

Restoration work on Athens’ Acropolis is set to shift to the west side of the Parthenon under a 40-year-long effort to restore the ancient archaeological monument, officials said Thursday.

“Most of the restoration work was completed in 2015, whereby we fixed the most important and urgent problems,” the head of the operation Vassiliki Eleftheriou told AFP.
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The long running Acropolis programme of works on the Acropolis site enters a new phase

The current restoration of the Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis has been ongoing for many years now. This week, the go-ahead has been given by the Central Archaeological Council for works to proceed on the West Pediment.

You can read more about the proposals (in Greek) here.

The West end of the Parthenon

From:
Greek Reporter

Restoration Work on Parthenon’s Western Pediment to Begin
By Kerry Kolasa-Sikiaridi –
Aug 4, 2016

The Central Archaeological Council (KAS) approved on Wednesday two projects for the restoration of the upright marble slabs and background wall of the drum which form part of Parthenon’s western pediment.

According to the researchers who presented the two studies, the work involves rescue interventions aimed at dealing with the problems found by restorers in that section of the pediment – mainly cracks formed by various causes. In the future, the studies could be used to evaluate whether it would be useful to add material in place of the two missing slabs, they said.
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Despite the financial crisis facing Greece, work on the Acropolis restoration is continuing as planned.

From:
Agence France Presse

Greece’s Acropolis: no crisis for restoration
By Isabel Malsang (AFP) – Feb 1, 2011

ATHENS — Like the victory goddess it honours, Athens’ ancient Temple of Athena Nike stands free of scaffolding for the first time in nine years in a testament to another triumph — the prolific restoration of the Acropolis.

Greece may be struggling to ward off financial collapse but nothing will crush the ambitious plan — first started in 1975 — to restore Classical glory to the country’s most visited monument.
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Despite coming in for a lot of bad press recently in Germany for economic reasons, the country’s media are being much more supportive to Greece in their appreciation of the efforts being put into restoring the Acropolis.

From:
Greek Reporter

German Media Praises Acropolis Restoration Efforts
Posted on 09 January 2011 by Venetia Aftzigianni

The German media is impressed by the quality of renovations on the Acropolis. Begining in the mid-1970′s, the project has involved painstaking repairs on major monuments, including the Parthenon, the Erechtheion and Athena Nike Temple, and the Acropolis walls. The architectural masterpieces suffered from pollution and a flawed reparation attempt in the 1930′s. Workers used iron clamps in their repairs that eventually rusted and cracked the marble.

German journalists have uncharacteristically praised Greek efforts.
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More coverage of the restoration works to the Temple of Athena Nike on the Acropolis that have recently ended.

From:
Athens News Agency

10/21/2010
Temple of Athena Nike on Acropolis restored

(ANA-MPA) — Standing a full metre taller than before and without the scaffolding that enveloped it for the past decade, the slim temple of Athena Nike atop the Acropolis in central Athens was again in full view as of this month following the completion of restoration work.

The small temple was among the ancient marble structures on the Acropolis that had suffered the most extensive damage over the years, even as far back as 1687 when it was badly damaged by a mortar shell lobbed by besieging Venetians against an Ottoman garrison barricaded on the hill.
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Visitors familiar with the Acropolis site in Athens who visited since 2004 will have been surprised to see that for a few years, the temple of Athena Nike that overlooks the entrance to the site had completely disappeared.

The entire building was dismantled for restoration & the plinth on which it sat was reinforced to remedy the subsidence that had occurred over the years. The temple parts were gradually assembles piece by piece & this building is now complete once more. These works form a part of the overall restoration on the Acropolis Site that has been ongoing for over thirty years.

From:
Associated Press

AP Interview: Acropolis’ Nike temple rises again
By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS – Sep 7, 2010

ATHENS, Greece — After a decade-long facelift, the ancient Greek temple of Athena Nike is back up, patched up and unfettered on the Acropolis.

The slender marble building first erected in the 5th century B.C. was unburdened of its scaffolding in recent days — 10 years after being completely dismantled for repairs.
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For thirty years, scaffolding has been a prominent feature of the Parthenon. The current stage that the restoration works have reached means that for a few months it will be possible for visitors to see the building unencumbered by scaffold.

From:
Reuters

Athens’ Parthenon scaffold-free for first time in years
By Jon Hemming
ATHENS | Thu May 27, 2010 9:45pm BST

ATHENS (Reuters Life!) – Visitors to Athens have a rare window of opportunity to see the showpiece Parthenon temple on the ancient Acropolis without scaffolding for the first time in nearly 30 years as a major restoration work nears completion.

The Greek government launched a project to restore the Parthenon and other buildings on the world heritage site in 1975, but it was not until 1983 that work started.
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The Acropolis restoration is probably one of the longest running projects of its kind – The current programme of works started thirty five years ago. The completion of the works to the Propylaia – the gateway to the site marks a major milestone in the completion of these works.

From:
Athens News Agency

06/01/2010
Restoration of Acropolis Propylaea completed

All scaffolding and cranes were fully removed from the Propylaea of the Acropolis, the monumental entrance, or gateway, to the Acropolis, following completion of the restoration work on the central building of the structure.

The Propylaea was built under the direction of Athenian leader Pericles, but the building itself was designed by the architect Mnesicles, while construction began in 437 BCE and was terminated in 432 BCE, while the building was still unfinished.
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An interesting article on the use of newly developed laser cleaning techniques being used on some of the Acropolis Sculptures.

From:
Crete Gazette

Ancient Greek statues restored with laser developed in Crete

The innovative Greek know-how has played an important role in the fine conservation and restoration of the Ancient Greek statues and artefacts in Acropolis before they were exposed at the New Acropolis Museum.

Specialized technicians cleaned the grand relieves at the restoration laboratory in the Acropolis with a new laser developed in Crete; what the hi tech Englishmen didn’t manage to do after so many years of storing the marbles of the Acropolis, was achieved due to the inspiration and love of the Greeks, within a small period of time.
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The restoration of the Propylaia which forms the gateway to the Acropolis has now been completed, ending another chapter in the Acropolis’s extensive restoration programme.

From:
Athens News Agency

12/22/2009
Restoration of Acropolis Propylaea completed

All scaffolding and cranes were fully removed from the Propylaea of the Acropolis, the monumental entrance, or gateway, to the Acropolis, on the weekend following completion of the restoration work on the central building of the structure.

The Propylaea was built under the direction of Athenian leader Pericles, but the building itself was designed by the architect Mnesicles, while construction began in 437 BCE and was terminated in 432 BCE, while the building was still unfinished.
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As a high precision modern restoration project using the latest technology, the Acropolis Restoration project that has been running for the last 30 years must be without parallel. Some of the work was needed to negate previous problematic restoration works on the site, but much of it was necessary purely to stabilise the buildings & re-incorporate new fragments that had been excavated from the site.

From:
Deutsche Presse Agentur

2,350 tons of marble restored, replaced for Acropolis restoration
Europe News
May 29, 2009, 13:32 GMT

Athens – Some 2,350 tons of marble were restored or replaced over the past three decades for the massive project to restore the ancient Acropolis monuments, reports said Friday.

Maria Ioannidou, a senior Culture Ministry official was quoted by the Greek daily Kathimerini as saying more than 1,000 architects and archaeologists restored or replaced a total of 2,350 tons of marble during the restoration project.
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Although the article title says that it is the Parthenon, it should say Propylaea – which still represents a hugej step forward in the overall Acropolis restoration programme.

From:
Athens News Agency

04/12/2008
Parthenon restoration completed

Scaffolding will be removed from the Parthenon Facade during the next few days and visitors will be able to view the restored largest part of the marble roof with its friezes that made the monument, the work of the architect Mnisiklis, renowned in ancient times.
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