The Acropolis Restoration News

View of the restored temple of Athena Nike from the E. Photo T. Souvlakis, 2010

M. Ioannidou, 2010 – 2011, The progress of restoration on the AcropolisD. Michalopoulou, K. Mamalougas, The restoration programme of the temple of Athena Nike: brief evaluation

K. Karanasos, Restoration of the superstructure of the south wall of the central building of the PropylaiaG. Frantzi, The gradual revealing of colour on the ceiling of the Porch of the Maidens in the Erechtheion

V. Manidaki, The replacement of sculptured architectural members on the monuments of the Acropolis. Casts, copies and authentic membersL. Lambrinou, The restoration of the Parthenon’s pronaos: aesthetical matter or theoretical dilemma?

C. Hadziaslani,E. Kaimara, A. Leonti, New activities and publications of the Information and Education DepartmentE. Petropoulou, News from the Acropolis

11 ñ July 2011

Completion of the restoration of theAthena Nike temple was one of the mostimportant events that marked the secondhalf of 2010 on the Acropolis.

Intervention on the temple had started in1998 with the removal of the frieze blocksof the temple andtheir transfer to theMuseum and it wascontinued from 2001on with the disman-tling of the entiremonument. The stu-dy for the interven-tion was carried outby D. Giraud. Head ofthe work was thecivil engineer D.Michalopoulou, whi-le the architect K.Mamalougas made allthe necessary supple-mentary architecturalstudies. E. Lembida-ki, archaeologist, wasresponsible for thedocumentation. Headof the work team wasthe experienced marble technician, L.Zacharopoulos.

The purpose of the intervention was toremove the oxidised iron reinforcementsof the previous restoration from 314 archi-tectural members of the temple and torestore the structural integrity of the frag-mentary blocks. Yet after dismantling thetemple it was found necessary to extendthe intervention to the members of theporos shrine that was preserved in thebasement below the marble temple.

In the course of research on the disman-tled architectural members, new evidenceemerged that led to the rearrangement ofthe cella wall blocks and the Ionic columncapitals of the temple, after studies madeby K. Mamalougas. This also provided theopportunity to identify and reset on the

monument scattered fragments, and evenwhole architectural members that hadbeen used in the earlier interventions.Finally, D. Giraud made a supplementarystudy for the restoration of the pediment,the cornices and the sima of the temple,with considerable use of new marble.

After approval by the Central Archaeologi-cal Council (KAS), the study was appliedto the temple. This increased the amountof physical work, thereby extending thetime it took to complete it.

After completing the intervention on theceilings of the Propylaia in December2009 and the north side of the Parthenonin May 2010, the efforts of the Servicewere devoted to completing the restora-tion work on the temple of Athena Nike.From May 2010 to the end of July, withthe collaboration of the personnel of allthe Acropolis worksites, the copies of thefrieze blocks were adjusted and set intheir definitive positions and part of theeast pediment, the cornices and sima ofthe temple were restored with fillings ofnew marble. Incorporated in the simablocks made of new marble were ancient

fragments that had survived; five lionheads were carved anew. In August 2010,in a coordinated operation in whichpersonnel from all the worksites collabo-rated, with the supervision of S.Oikonomopoulos, the monument wascleared of the scaffolding system by means

of bridge-cranes. Thewest side of the Acro-polis was presented tothe public, with thePropylaia and the te-mple of Athena Nikeentirely free of scaf-folding.

With the restorationof the temple of Athe-na Nike the greatprogramme of restor-ing the Acropolismonuments, whichhad begun in 2000with funding fromthe 3rd CommunitySupport Framework,was completed. Inmore recent years,however, new studies

have been carried out so as to begin inter-ventions in areas of the monuments wherestructural problems are evident. TheYSMA, with the necessary administrativecapacity, responded to the request of theRegion of Attica by submitting a completeproposal to include the new interventionson the monuments, with funding from theNational Strategic Reference Framework(NSRF). The funding, which wasapproved by the programme “Attica 2007-2013” comes to 8,000,000 €. The decisionto apply it was announced in December2010, but preparation in the YSMA work-sites was already under way some monthsearlier.

The new funding made it possible to takeon more personnel for accomplishing theworks included in the NSRF programme.Recruited, therefore, after a strict selective

2010 – 2011, The progress of restoration on the Acropolis

View of the restored temple of Athena Nike from NE. Photo T. Souvlakis, 2010

procedure, were five civil engineers, onearchitect, five archaeologists, one electri-cal engineer, one rural and surveying engi-neer, four conservators, ten marble sculp-tors, and seven work technicians. Includ-ed among those chosen are also a numberof the old colleagues of YSMA, experi-enced engineers and marble sculptorswhose terms of employment had expiredin June 2009. Among the new personnelof the YSMA is the chemical engineer E.

Aggelakopoulou who was detached fromthe Directorate of Restoration TechnicalResearch, so as to assume the position ofhead of the Surface Conservation Sectionof the YSMA, after the retirement of thechemical engineer E. Papakonstantinou.

The new work period includes an exten-sive programme on the Parthenon. Headof the work of restoring the Parthenon isthe architect N. Toganidis. Among the

personnel of the project are the architectsV. Eleftheriou, V. Manidaki, E. Lambri-nou, and A. Papandropoulos. E. Karakit-sou, archaeologist, is in charge of docu-mentation of the Parthenon restoration.The marble sculptors are headed by G.Aggelopoulos and D. Phoskolos. Thescientific personnel of the programme wasaugmented after May 2011 with the addi-tion of the architect K. Skaris, the civilengineers A. Vrouva, V. Palieraki, V.Delizisi, I. Konteas and the archaeologistE. Mimidou.

The most important work on theParthenon is the intervention on the westside of the monument, which was restoredby N. Balanos during the first period ofanastelosis of the Parthenon (1898-1902).The purpose of the new intervention is tocope with the serious structural problemsand deformations in that part of themonument that are due to the destructionsof the past, to the previous anastelosis,and also to earthquakes that have struckthe monument. Moreover its purpose isthe restoration of the monuments appear-ance by including in the monument anumber of architectural members made ofnew marble. The study for this interven-tion has been carried out by the architectsV. Eleftheriou and V. Manidaki. Included in the programme for 2011-

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View of the Parthenon after beginning the works of restoring the west side.Photo M. Ioannidou, 2011

Suspension of a section of the base of the northwest Parthenon akroterion.Photo V. Eleftheriou, 2011

Dismantling the base of the southwestParthenon akroterion. Photo V. Manidaki, 2011

2013 is intervention on the two cornersof the west side, which includes, inaccordance with the study, the disman-tl ing of a total of 80 architecturalmembers. To begin with, the disman-tling will be carried out in the areas inwhich N. Balanos intervened in 1902. Itwill, however, be extended as far as thearchitrave blocks of the corner interco-lumniation, the breaks in which were atthat time repaired with large iron rein-forcements that were placed on thefaçade of the monument. Programmedlikewise is the structural restoration ofthe column capitals and one more archi-trave block. Planned also for this samephase is the dismantling from the twocorners of the monument of a total of 6metopes and their transport to theAcropolis Museum for their protection.Accurate copies of artificial stone willreplace them on the monument. Theaddition of 6 new blocks in spaces thatwere left in the upper course of the twocorners (cornices and tympanon blocks)are expected to strengthen the buildingstructurally. Surface conservation will becarried out on all blocks to be disman-

tled and on al l blocks lying on the

ground.

The subject of hoisting equipment to be

used in the intervention was examined in

detail, in order to facilitate the work with

the least possible aesthetical interference,

as the west side of the Parthenon provides

the main view of the temple, dominatingas it does the landscape of the Acropolis. Itis a view of the Parthenon that should notbe obstructed by scaffolding for any greatlength of time. It was decided to transferand install the Potain crane, which hadbeen used in the work on the north side ofthe Parthenon, in the west side of themonument. The crane rests on a surfacefoundation of reinforced concrete on therock itself in a suitable position north ofthe north façade of the Parthenon extend-ing to the middle of the west area. Whennot in use the crane folds up, in order tolessen aesthetical interference with themonument. Construction of the founda-tion and the installing of the crane –withthe help of the Derrick crane installedinside the monument– was carried out inthe fall of 2010 by an outside groupcollaborating with the Service.

The tasks of dismantling began with theNW corner of the monument on May 20and, by the June 29, 17 blocks had beenlowered (the acroterion base, the pan-tilewith antefix, 3 blocks of the raking sima,

Carving the flutes of the columns in the north colonnade. Photo V. Vlachou, 2011

Lowering the northwest corner cornice blockof the Parthenon. Photo V. Eleftheriou, 2011

Working on the flutes of the fifth from Ecolumn in the north colonnade.Photo M. Ioannidou, 2011

among them the corner block of theraking sima that is in one piece with thelion-head pseudo-spout, 5 lateral corniceblocks and the end block of the tympanonbacking wall, 2 blocks of the tympanonbacking wall, a tympanon orthostate and3 lateral cornice blocks).

In order to find out the extent of shiftingthat might have occurred in the cornercolumns and in the 4th column of thewest side while lessening the load in theprocess of dismantling, a monitoringsystem was installed with optical fibresensors.

Together with the work on the westside, work is proceeding on restoringthe orthostates of the north wall of thecella. The programme of 2011-2013calls for the restoration of 15 ancientblocks of the exterior course. They areto be reset in their definitive positionsafter their structural restoration. Onlyone ancient block from the interiororthostate course has been identified.The others will be made of new marblefor the positions where they are neededfor supporting the overlying section of

the wall, to be restored in the succeed-

ing programme.

Included also in the Parthenon works is

completion of the carving of the flutes in

the new marble supplements of six

columns of the Parthenon north colon-

nade. This consists of the final working of

the surfaces of the new marble drums and

it requires high specialisation and skill onthe part of the marble sculptors.

Finally, work is beginning on the restora-tion of the lintel of the cella west wall,which had been restored by N. Balanos. Inthis phase, the two interior beams, partsof which are preserved, will be restoredand filled in with new marble.

In the Propylaia, immediately afterrestoration of the ceilings of the centralbuilding was completed, the programmesfor restoring the south wall of the centralbuilding and the south wing of the monu-ment were prepared. Until his retirementin December 2010 the architect T.Tanoulas was the head of the Propylaiarestoration project. In May 2011, added tothe scientific personnel of the project,K.Karanasos, architect, and E. Petro-poulou, archaeologist, were the experi-enced civil engineer V. Papavasileiou andthe archaeologist K. Koutsadelis.

The programme to restore 19 blocks of thesouth wall of the central building, inaccordance with the study by the architectK. Karanasos, began in March 2011.Previously, preference had been given to

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View of the south wall of the central building of the Propylaia, while resetting the blocks of the19th course. Photo K. Karanasos, 2011

Resetting a cornice block on the south wall of the Propylaia. Photo K. Karanasos, 2011

the structural restoration of 16 ancientarchitectural members that were finallyrestored to the south wall. For the needs ofthe programme, two wall blocks and acrown block to replace the one exhibitedin the British Museum, were made in newmarble. The programme is expected to befinished at the end of September 2011.

The programme for the south wing of thePropylaia comprises the restoration ofancient material lying on the ground to itsauthentic position. This material had,during the 15th century, been incorporat-ed in the tower built by the Florentines inthe south wing. After the tower was takendown in 1875, the ancient material ofwhich it consisted was studied by manyresearchers (Bohn, Dörpfeld, Wood andDinsmoor). During the decades of the1940’s and 1950's (1946-1954 and 1957-1960), Anastasios Orlandos restored acolumn, two antae and their overlyingarchitrave blocks to the south wing of thePropylaia.

The architectural study for the restora-tion of the south wing was made by T.Tanoulas. The study called for the

restoration in their authentic positions of50 architectural members, the authenticmaterial of which varies form 60 to100%, while the total amount of ancientmaterial to be restored would amount to90%. One architectural member (a friezeblock from the west façade) was to bemade entirely of new marble. The

present writer and V. Papavasileiou stud-ied in particular the static efficiency ofthe previous restoration, so as to deter-mine if it needed to be dismantled. Thetechnical study that was carried outshowed that Orlandos’ resoration wasstatically efficient, since the reinforce-ments that were used are made of stain-less steel and bronze and there was noevidence of cracking or breaks. There arereservations, however, about the archi-trave blocks of the north and west sides,because the procedure of combining thefragments into an architectural memberthat was applied in the past is counter tothe principle of preserving the originalstructural function of the architecturalmembers and thus imposes theirdismantling.

Special discussion centred on the great tileof the south niche between the centralbuilding and the south wing, a uniquearchitectural member 4.50 m. in lengthand weighing 7.5 tons. The fragments ofthe member that were found enabled T.Tanoulas to make a complete graphicrestoration. The Committee for Conserva-

Proposal for the restoration of the south wing of the Propylaia: north side of the colonnade.Drawing T. Tanoulas, 2010

Working on a filler in a geison block of the south wing of the Propylaia.Photo K. Karanasos, 2011

tion of the Acropolis Monuments (ESMA)reserved examination of both the recon-struction of the gigantic monolithic tile ofthe south niche and the possibility of roof-ing the south wing, in the context offuture programmes.

The restoration of the south wing witharchitectural members that are reset intheir original position will contribute tobetter preservation of the architecturalmembers, to the architectural complete-ness of the monument and, thus, to itsreadability. It will, moreover, strengthenthe response of that part of the monumentto possible earthquake, since it restoresthe connection of the north colonnade ofthe wing with the northwest anta.

The study of the south wing was approvedby both the ESMA and the CentralArchaeological Council. Already underway is the structural restoration of archi-tectural members that are to be reset onthe monument (joining of fragmentsbelonging to the same architecturalmember, joining of two supplements ofnew marble to ancient fragments, themaking of six casts for new supplements,the pointing of new marble supplements).The bridge crane that will support therestoration will be constructed in October2011, after removal of the bridge crane ofthe south wall.

In the area of the temple of Athena Nike,after completion of the restoration, worksare proceeding with funds from the NSRFin order to remove the worksite installa-tions, clear the area surrounding thetemple, form an approach for visitors to aplace from which to view the temple, andto improve the protection and function ofthe area beneath the temple with thearchaic shrine. The metallic shed housingthe machinery for cutting marble hasalready been dismantled and removedfrom the area of the temple of the Brauron-ian Artemis. Likewise dismantled, inorder to be restored, are four crown blocks

of the bastion that had been composed ofvarious fragments in the previous restora-tion. It had not been possible to removethem until now as they supported thescaffolding used in the intervention. Afterremoval of clamps and cement mortar, oneof the ancient fragments was attributed tothe south crown, and supplements of newmarble are being made to fill in thesestones.

Surface conservation of the marble wascontinued during the past year with the

chemical engineer E. Papakonstantinou incharge –until December 2010– then, fromMarch 2011, headed by chemical engineerE. Aggelakopoulou.

On the Parthenon, with the conservator A.Panou in charge, rescue conservation wascarried out on the west side of the monu-ment. Specifically, intervention focused onthe architectural members of the super-structure of the NW and SW corners,which are to be removed, and on themetopes and triglyphs of the west sidewhich are to be dismantled from themonument. Systematic conservation was

carried out likewise on the upper restingsurface of 17 members of the northtoichobate.

In the Propylaia, under the direction ofthe conservator K. Frantzikinaki, system-atic conservation was carried out on themembers of the south wall of the centralbuilding and the south wing, and also onthe upper surface of 11 architecturalblocks in situ, on which the blocks of thesouth wall are to rest. In addition, a drumof the first column from the north in the

west side of the monument is undergoingconservation. Conservation of the northsection of the floor of the east stoa is tobegin immediately, in accordance withthe study by K. Frantzikinaki.

In the temple of Athena Nike, the northcrown blocks and orthostates of the westwall underwent systematic surface conser-vation.

In the Erechtheion, the conservator G.Frantzi was in charge of systematicconservation of the interior side of thewest wall of the cella. Cleaning of the

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Joining belonging fragments to a member of the north crown of the Athena Nike bastion.Photo D. Michalopoulou, 2011

coffered ceiling of the south wing wascontinued by means of laser, while itsappearance benefited from the removal ofthe old mortar that covered a large part ofthe ceiling. In process too is the specialphotography that is revealing the exis-tence of ancient colour (Egyptian blue) onthe four sides and the grounds of the 40coffers.

The Surface Conservation Section alsoremoved the sealing mortar of the preced-ing interventions from the poros triglyph(AE 21432) of the archaic Parthenon. Ithas completed documentation of theconservation performed and of the newevidence that has been discovered on theblocks of the west frieze of the Parthenon,after cleaning with laser.

Documentation of the Scattered Architec-tural Members, headed by the archaeolo-gist E. Sioumpara, was continued duringthe past year with recording, photographyand classification of 669 fragments ofmembers out of a total of 1000 from thepile of the Arrephorion. In order to mendthe fragments of the poros architecturalmembers that had been identified during

the previous year, research was carried outto find a suitable mortar, in collaborationwith the Surface Conservation Section andN. Maravelaki, Professor at the TechnicalUniversity of Crete. Work on joining thefragments is to begin immediately in theold Acropolis Museum in a space madeavailable by the 1st Ephorate of Prehistoricand Classical Antiquities. E. Salavouraarchaeologist at the Documentation Officejoined the technical office of the ScatteredArchitectural Members in June 2011.

During the past year, photogrammetricsurvey of the Acropolis monuments wascontinued by the rural and surveying engi-neer, D. Mavromati. Orthophotomosaicswere produced of the groundplans of thenorth and south corners of the west side ofthe Parthenon, the groundplan of the westwall of the Parthenon cella, and the twoviews (east and west) of the lintel in thewall. Recently the project has beenextended to include survey with a laserscanner by the new YSMA rural andsurveying engineer, A. Valani. Likewiseunder way is preparation for public tenderfor the extensive photogrammetric survey-ing of the monuments, which has been

incorporated in the NSRF and includesphotogrammetric surveys of areas of theParthenon, the Propylaia and the temple ofAthena Nike.

In the framework of documentation of theinterventions, the Documentation Office,headed by the archaeologist E. Lembidaki,continued throughout the year to recordthe evidence from the restoration in theYSMA database. Activities were intensi-fied during this last period by the recruit-ment of new archaeologists who wereinstalled in the offices of the Parthenon,the Propylaia and the Section of ScatteredArchitectural Members. They are me-ntioned above. The services of two morecolleagues, the archaeologists M. Katsian-is and V. Vlachou have been added to theoffice of the central archive. Among theworks of the past year are, in addition, thepublication of a special issue on the worksof restoration, the publication of theAcropolis Restoration News of the YSMA,containing the proceedings of the one-dayseminar entitled “Modern technologies inthe restoration of the Acropolis”. At thesame time, the Documentation Office ispreparing an informative leaflet on theAcropolis works and panels giving infor-mation about the works in the archaeolo-gical site.

Photographic documentation of the worksis being carried out systematically by anYSMA photographer. S. Mavrommatis wasthe head of the Photographic Laboratoryuntil his retirement in November 2010.

Surface conservation of the northwest column in the central building of the Propylaia.Photo K. Frantzikinaki, 2011

Cleaning of the coffered ceiling of the Caryatidporch with laser. Photo G. Frantzi, 2011

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Since then, systematic photography of theworks is being done by T. Souvlakis.

Throughout the entire past year the contri-bution of the YSMA ElectromechanicalSupport Team has been of great impor-tance. The team is headed by the electricalmechanical engineer S. Oikonomopoulos,who provided the support necessary forthe works, with the monitoring of the elec-

tro-mechanical installations of the YSMA.The team has recently been increased withthe recruitment of the electrical andcomputer engineer D. Zois.

The Education and Information Depart-ment of the YSMA continued its activity,which is described in detail both in thechapter “News from the Acropolis” in thepresent issue, and in the chapter “New

Activities and Publications of the Informa-tion and Education Department”, co-authored by the head of the Department,C. Hadziaslani, architect-archaeologistand the archaeologists E. Kaimara and A.Leonti.

The contribution of the YSMA AccountingOffice, headed by P. Katsimichas, wasindeed substantial in the financial closingof the YSMA work that was funded by the3rd Community Support Framework, andin logistical preparation and monitoring ofthe work of the YSMA with the NSRF.Equally important was the contribution ofthe ESMA Secretariat, with Ch. Papaniko-laou in charge.

The past year saw the beginning of a newphase in the restoration of the Acropolismonuments. In this new phase the YSMAis proceeding with the restoration of themonuments, guided by the knowledge andexperience gained in the previous inter-ventions, and following the provenmethodology that has assured the highquality of the work completed. Theconnection with research and the achieve-ments of contemporary technology iscontinuous, thus assuring the develop-ment and improvement of the proceduresof study, accomplishment and organisa-tion in the works of restoration. Herein isthe school of the contemporary Hellenicapproach to restoring the monuments ofclassical antiquity, which is international-ly recognised.

Maria IoannidouCivil Engineer

Director of the YSMA

Three-dimensional scanning of a column capital of the archaic Parthenon.Photo E. Sioumpara, 2011

Special photography of architectural members of the Propylaia and the Parthenon.Photo T. Souvlakis, 2011

A. GeneralThe work of restoration on the temple ofAthena Nike was completed in September2010. The total duration of the restorationproject was 10 years and it is the third inthe history of the temple. It was precededby the work spanning the years 1835 -1845, carried out by L. Ross, Ch. Hansen,E. Schaubert and K.Pittakis –the first anastelo-sis of a classical monumentin the new Hellenic state–and by those during the pe-riod 1935-1940 by N.Balanos and A. Orlandos,which in addition to thetemple, were extended toinclude the entire underly-ing bastion.

The monument, one of themost important of classicalantiquity, had disappearedbecause it was dismantledby the Turks on the eve ofMorosini’s attack (1687).It was indeed saved by therestorations noted above,which gave it the form thatwas preserved up to ourtimes. The methods em-ployed, however, while ac-ceptable then, with the pas-sage of time have causedproblems necessitating anew restoration.

The programme for restoring the tem-ple anew began in October 2000, in ac-cordance with the study made by thearchitect D. Giraud. During the courseof the work problems arose that couldnot be resolved before dismantling thetemple and studying its architecturalmembers. Supplementary studies weretherefore needed and these were carriedout either by the same architect or bythe supervising engineers of the work,signers of the present article. The prob-lems of the monument were handled

within the framework of the principlesappl ied by the YSMA to a l l theAcropolis monuments. Apart from thegeneral problems common to all themonuments, however, special mentionshould be made of the difficulties ofthis specific programme. These can besummarised as follows:

ñ The monument was dismantled andthen rebuilt in its entirety. Intervention onan entire classical temple creates addition-al difficulties as opposed to interventionsthat are limited to specific areas of a mon-ument much of which still remains insitu.

ñ The restoration in the past of the archi-tectural members of the monument to in-correct positions and in addition –duringthe first restoration– on a krepis that wasdeformed because of subsidence, led to re-

peated cutting of the architectural mem-bers, which altered their original mea-surements.

ñ The existence of an underground spacebeneath part of the temple overthrew thebasic principle of founding the monumenton compact foundations and required the

invention and applicationof entirely original solu-tions. These works, more-over, extended the area ofintervention –beyond theclassical temple– to includealso the poros shrine andpart of the bastion itself.

ñ The location of the monu-ment at the edge of the bas-tion, caused particular diffi-culty with the installationof the hoisting system andthe bearing scaffolding.

B. The benefits of the re-storation programmeThe benefits of the restora-tion programme may besummarised as follows:

1. Repair - Structural in-dependence of architec-tural membersAs is well known, the newinterventions on the Acro-polis were imperative notonly because of physical

damage to the architectural members suf-fered with the passage of time. Equallysignificant was the human factor and thematerials that were used in the precedinganasteloses. The temple of Athena Nikewas no exception, since the extensive useof iron reinforcements, insufficiently an-chored and protected from oxidation,caused numerous breaks and cracks in themarble of the architectural members. Thereplacement of iron with titanium, as onthe other Acropolis monuments, is one ofthe most important benefits of the new

The restoration programme of the temple of Athena Nike: brief evaluation

View of the temple from the East. Photo. T. Souvlakis, 2011

restoration since, from the standpoint ofmaterials used, it assures the right behav-iour of the monument through time.

An equally important gain was the recov-ery of structural independence of the ar-chitectural members, one of the most ba-sic structural principles of classical monu-ments. As became evident, especially afterdismantling the monument, the membersof the temple were in many cases frag-mented and, in the previous anastelosis,they had been joined in a way that violat-ed the basic principles of dry masonry andtheir structural independence.

In many cases, in order to compose an in-tegral architectural member, instead ofbeing joined together, the fragments had,each one separately, been set in placewith the use of iron elements, while theempty spaces between the fragments,where invisible, had been filled in withcement. Cement had been used likewisein order to fill in parts of the architecturalmembers around the cuttings for theclamps and dowels. The above problemsmultiplied the number of marble fillingsneeded and thus the number of joins inthe invisible areas of the architecturalmembers.

Wherever feasible, in the recent restora-tion of the monument, an effort was madeto achieve the best adaptation of the newsupplements to the fragmentary ancientmembers so that they would follow thebreak surfaces to the extent possible. Thiswas done in order to lessen the impres-sion of the strongly geometrical forms

created in the restoration of the temple inthe previous anasteloses in which the an-cient members were cut so that a supple-ment could be adapted to them.

Finally, the choice of marble for makingthe supplements depended on the interiorstructure (marble veins) of the ancientmarble, given that the architectural mem-bers are subject to various different strainsdepending on the positions they occupy.

2. Redesigning and replacement of thebearing structure beneath part of thetempleRedesigning the bearing structure beneaththe floor of the temple yielded significantadvantages both for the classical templeand for the preserved part of the porosshrine in the underground space. Thecomposite construction, made up of rein-forced concrete and steel beams, that wasused in the previous anastelosis of thetemple with the aim of making the under-ground crypt available for study of theporos shrine and other archaeological re-mains, showed clear signs of damage with

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The subterranean space as it was found after dismantling the temple. Photo D. Giraud, 2002

The metal grid beneath the floor of the temple. Photo K.Mamalougas, 2004

cracks in the concrete from oxidation ofthe reinforcements in the slab and corro-sion of the iron beams. The method bywhich it was supported in the undergoundspace, moreover, by building a little wallof non-reinforced compact stone mortar,which abutted the blocks of the porosshrine, had caused damage to the poroswith the appearance of salts. The replace-ment of the reinforced concrete slab with ametal grid of stainless steel and the re-designing of the method for supporting it,was a work of great scholarly interest, be-cause of the special behavioural require-ments of the new construction and thelimitations imposed by the available spaceto the dimensions of its structural mem-bers. The special conditions prevailing inthe underground space, moreover, madethe work arduous. The benefits obtainedwere, however, particularly significantsince resistance of the monument to timewas assured and the floor of the templewas now correctly and fully restored at theright level.

3. Restoration and improvement ofthe conditions of preservation of theporos shrineThe restoration programme was extended

also to the preserved part of the porosshrine, which was dismantled in order toreplace the iron clamps and dowels addedin the previous anastelosis and to removethe salts from the stones. Furthermore, theredesigning both of the bearing slab of re-inforced concrete and the method of sup-porting it with pillars of stainless steel,

improved the conditions of preservationand accessibility of the poros monument.This was accomplished with the removalof the aggravating elements of the earlierconstruction such as the iron supportwithin the shrine and the non-reinforcedcement found abutting the poros mem-bers. Waterproofing of the area was like-wise improved.

4. Rearrangement of the membersThe new restoration programme providedthe opportunity of correcting the positionsof architectural members wrongly placedin the previous anastelosis. In some casesthe evidence for the rearrangement was tobe found on visible surfaces of the mem-bers and was known before the monumentwas dismantled. In other cases the evi-dence was found on their invisible surfacesin the course of studying the ancient con-struction marks. A total of 42 of the 327architectural members that compose theentire temple were rearranged. Changeswere made in the arrangement of the col-umn shafts, the capitals, the pillars, thecella wall blocks, the ceiling coffers andthe frieze blocks.

5. Correction of deviations from theoriginal geometry of the monumentApart from the possibility of improving in-dividual parts of the temple, the newrestoration enabled us to correct problemsthat had been caused by the earlieranasteloses and had to do with deviationsfrom the original geometry of the monu-ment. The most significant of these wasthe 4 cm. incline of the crepis and conse-quently of the entire monument towardthe west. This resulted in various distor-tions such as the inclination of the westcolumns toward the west rather than to-ward the cella wall. Similar corrections,on a smaller scale, invisible to the casualobserver but important for the architectu-ral consistency of the monument, werecarried out on various different parts ofthe building, as a result of the study andrearrangement of the members. North facade of the monument after restoration. Drawing K. Mamalougas

Dismantling the poros shrine. Photo K.Ma-malougas, 2002

Here it should be noted that, unlike theother large monuments of the Acropolis,the precise original measurements of thetemple of Athena Nike were not givenfacts but had to be found through re-search, since no part of the temple ispreserved in situ. Furthermore, a greatmany of the architectural members hadlost their original measurementsthrough the procrustean trimming theyreceived in the previous anasteloses,made in order to place them on a de-formed krepis or to “fit them in” to anincorrect position.

6. Partial restoration of the corniceand pedimentAn important benefit of the new restora-tion programme was the extension of therestoration to include part of the horizon-tal cornice, part of the pediment and partof the sima of the temple. A fuller pictureof the architecture of the building has thusbeen obtained and a significant number ofscattered ancient fragments has been in-cluded in the monument.

7. Inclusion of scattered materialThe new restoration added a significantamount of ancient material to the build-ing, in the form of both fragmentary andintact members. Part of this material wasalready known from the initial study.Other pieces were found either scatteredon the rock or incorporated as ordinaryinert material in the concrete filling insidethe crepis of the temple.

8. Replacement of the frieze withcopiesIn accordance with the current practice ofmoving the sculptural decoration of themonuments to the Acropolis Museum, theauthentic members of the frieze have beenreplaced by cast copies made according tospecial specifications.

As shown above, the advantages of thenew restoration are especially significantboth for the present form of the monu-ment –one of the most important of classi-cal antiquity– and for its future coursethrough time.

Dionysia MichalopoulouCivil Engineer Head of the restoration projectKostas MamalougasArchitect

Athena Nike Restoration project

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Restoration of the monument during thephase of resetting the members of the cella.Photo K.Mamalougas, 2006

Fragmented architectural member of the crepis. Photo K.Mamalougas, 2003

Replacing the authentic frieze with cast copies:1.Trial setting of the south frieze in thelaboratory.2. View of the west frieze on the monument.Photo D. Michalopoulou, 2011

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The following worked in the team for therestoration programme of the temple ofAthena Nike: D. Michalopoulou (civil en-gineer, head of the project), K. Mama-lougas (architect engineer), E. Lembidaki(archaeologist), L. Zacharopoulos (headof the work team), G. Paganis (2000-2007, head of the work team), A.Anagnostou (draftsman, operator of hoist-ing machinery, in charge of storeroom),G. Georgiou (2003-2009, draftsman), K.Tsirintoulakis (marble sculptor), V.Panopoulos (marble sculptor), A. Panout-sopoulos (2002-10, marble sculptor), A.Demetropoulos (2000-07, marble sculp-tor), M. Kovaios (2002-09, marble sculp-tor), K. Daes (2003-09, marble sculptor),G. Vasileiou (2003-09, marble sculptor),M. Armaos (2003-09, marble sculptor),G. Hamilakis (2003-09, marble sculptor),I. Balabanis (2003-09, marble sculptor),P. Niaouris (2003-09, marble sculptor),M. Demetriou (2002-07, marble sculptor),A. Theodoridis (2003-08, marble sculptor)D. Vayianos (2002 to date pantograph op-erator), D. Gregoropoulos (2002 to date,pantograph operator), V. Takouli (2002 to

date, cast maker), Ph. Vlachogiannis(2002 to date, technician), D. Side-ropoulos (2003 to date, technician), Th.Karabelas (2003 to date, technician), A.Damis (2003 to date, technician), E.Vlachogiannis (2003-08, technician).

Significant likewise was the contribution ofthe following: V. Savvatianou (2000-03,draftswoman), Th. Moutopoulos (2003,draftsman), A. Daphtis (2000-04, marblesculptor), K. Skylas (2000-03, marblesculptor), M. Voutsina (2003-05 marblesculptor), M. Alvertis (2007-09, marblesculptor), D. Zervas (2007-09, marblesculptor), V. Tsitsibakos (2010 to date,marble sculptor), Ch. Rodopoulos (2000-01, technician), K. Tsiphlas (2002-03,technician).

Finally, participating in the work for ashort time were: G. Alexandridis, A.Athanasopoulos, K. Dallas, G. Desypris,

Th. Grekas, S. Kaphouros, A. Kladios, E.Konstantinopoulos, D. Kouvas, V.Manidaki, K. Megoulas, M. Mouzoura, I.Palamaris, L. Philippousis, G. Regos, G.Skalkotos, V Skaris, M. Touphlekis, S.Tseperis, G. Vidalis, R. Vidalis, K.Xypolytidis and others.

Resetting the coffered slabs of the pranaos.Photo K.Mamalougas, 2010

West view of the monument, after restoration. Photo K.Mamalougas, 2010

Lion head from the north sima.Photo. K. Mamalougas, 2010

Completion of the project of restoring thesuperstructure of the central building ofthe Propylaia is a most important achieve-ment in the field of archaeological restora-tion, not solely for the Greek region. Withthe removal of the iron reinforcementsthat had been incorporated in most of thearchitectural members in the previousrestoration, the redetermination of theorginal positions of the ancient members,and the inclusion of others that were stillon the ground, the restoration increased

the comprehensibility of the monumentbut did not really change the image thathad become anchored over the past yearsin our perception.

The harmonic inclusion of the necessaryfillings, and, in certain circumstances, theinclusion of architectural members entirelyof new marble, likewise contributed sub-stantially to the promotion of the architec-ture of the building. Specifically, two moreepistyle blocks of new marble were addedto the south side of the central building, inorder to make the form of the southwestcorner of the entablature of the east porticomore complete. Although an interpolationin the overall programme of the restorationof the ceilings of the Propylaia, this inter-vention in the south side of the monument

can very well be taken as the link betweenthe completed programme and that whichis to follow and which is already underway. This is because the next interventionprogramme on the Propylaia calls for thesetting of blocks adjacent to the architraveblocks, thus extending the restoration tothe west of these.

This is the smaller scale programme ofrestoring the superstructure of the southwall of the central building; it was approved

by the Central Archaeological Council of theMinistry of Culture in July 2008. The studyfor the restoration of the blocks set on thesouth wall of the Propylaia west hall wascarried out by the undersigned between2001 and 2007. It concerns the finding ofthe original positions of wall blocks and acornice block that was found to belong tothis part of the monument.

The results of this research were present-ed at the 5th International Meeting for therestoration of the Acropolis monuments inOctober 2002; in succeeding years newevidence was obtained that enabled us toreach to final conclusions.

The south wall of the central building thatcorresponds to the west hall is preserved,

in general, in fairly good condition. Specif-ically, the two faces, exterior and interior,apart from traces datable after classicaltimes (typical is the rectangular openingthat emerged with the removal of two en-tire wall blocks of the 9th and 11th cour-ses and two half wall blocks of the 10thcourse during the first years of the Turkishoccupation), show no signs of mechanicaldeformation. The minimal shift of theblocks is perhaps to be connected with thedislocation and severe shifting toward theexterior suffered by the south wall of theeast porch of the building by the end ofthe 1990's. It is notable that the corre-sponding section of the opposite, northwall of the Propylaia shows more in theway of damage. Examples are the charac-teristic pyramidal sections of marble thatare missing from the corners of the wallblocks and the visible surface erosion ofthe blocks, especially on the upper half ofthe east interior face of the wall. Converse-ly, preserved on the south wall are tracesof the painted ornament on parts of thesurface of the cyma reversa of the sectionwith the crown blocks in situ.

The structural tissue of the central build-ing of the Propylaia was disrupted only

Restoration of the superstructure of the south wall of the central building ofthe Propylaia

View of the east portico of the Propylaia from the SE, after its recent restoration.Photo K.Karanasos, 2010

Drilling a hole in the filling of a block fromthe south wall. Photo K. Karanasos, 2011

minimally in Mediaeval times. A largepart of the superstructure of the west halland the east portico was destroyed in1640 when a lightening strike caused theexplosion of gunpowder stored by theTurks in that part of the monument, be-neath the coffered ceiling. The first repre-sentations by travellers illustrating the in-terior of the Propylaia at the beginning ofthe 19th century, show the south wall ofthe west hall up to the course of blockswhere the section of blocks of the interiorcornice is visible toward the interior of thebuilding, that is to the 18th course.Shown in their places in that course arethe first four blocks of the interior cornicefrom the east. Among the first interven-tions of the years 1835-1836 in theanastelosis of the Acropolis monuments,together with removal of mediaeval addi-tions, was the restoration of the south wallwith the resetting by Kyriakos Pittakis,curator of the Public Central Museum, ofseven wall blocks of the 19th and 20thcourses and one cornice block. They wereset not in their original positions, but inthe place of similar blocks, without hori-zontal and vertical clamps and dowels andwithout binding mortar. Specifically, inthis intervention, the eight pieces werepositioned as follows: in the 19th course,four of the blocks had been set in the posi-tions of the first, second, third and fourthwall blocks from the east. The last blockin the row had been placed upside downso that it was resting on its upper surface.Three blocks were set in the 20th coursein the positions of the second, third andfourth blocks from the east. Finally, thecornice block was set in the position thirdfrom the east.

In the anastelosis intervention of NikolaosBalanos on the Propylaia (1909-1917),this part of the south wall underwent nochange. Thus the wall of the west hall re-mained in this form until the years of therecent interventions under the Committeefor Conservation of the Acropolis Monu-ments. These architectural members were

dismantled in November 1997 in theframework of structural restoration of thesouth wall of the east portico (1997-2001). Lowering these blocks to theground provided the opportunity to mea-sure and study them meticulously, togeth-er with blocks lying on the ground in thearea of the Propylaia that had similar mor-phological and technical features, first bythe architect and head of the project ofrestoration of the Propylaia, T. Tanoulas,and the experienced draftswoman P.Moutopoulou, and subsequently, from

2001 on, by the writer. Included in the re-search were also blocks of the 18th course.It is worth noting as well that valuable in-formation came from the parallel study ofthe cornice blocks and blocks of the corre-sponding courses of the north wall of theWest Hall that were dismantled in Sep-tember 2002, in the framework of the pro-ject of restoration of the superstructure ofthe central building. In sum, examined inthe study were 20 blocks, 11 of whichcome from the collections of scatteredmembers and have the features of blocksthat belong to courses 18, 19 and 20,while after the blocks of the north wallwere dismantled, yet another block of the20th course was added. It has characteris-

tics belonging to the south wall, and wasfound to have been set incorrectly by Bal-anos.

The two side walls, north and south, of thecentral building of the Propylaia have eachtwenty courses of blocks above the or-thostate, which is composed of Eleusinianstone. Each course, in the section that cor-responds to the west hall, is made up ofnine or ten blocks. Up to the 18th coursethe blocks are set as stretchers and theytake up the full width of the wall, which

is 0.88 m. The length and height of thestones varies around 1.178 m. and 0.49m. respectively. On the blocks of the 18thcourse blocks of the interior cornice restthe wall epistyle blocks of the Ionic archi-trave of the west hall. The width of theblocks of the interior cornice on their up-per resting surface is equal to 1.034 m.Behind the blocks of the Ionic architravethe wall is completed with two rows ofblocks of the 19th course and 20th coursethat are less wide than the others, 0.69m., and in each case lower, not exceeding0.42 m. in height. The ceiling beams andthe inter-beam slabs rest on the architrave,whereas on the outer side, the cornice isbedded on the wall blocks. The two side

South wall of the central building of the Propylaia, from the south, on which the eight blocks ofthe anastelosis of K. Pittakis are outlined. Drawing T. Tanoulas

walls of the central building incline in-wards, but the thickness of the walls re-mains constant so that their two surfaces(exterior and interior) are parallel.

In the course of the study, basic character-istics were identified and defined that pro-vided criteria for investigating the originalpositions of the blocks. Taken into consid-eration were the locations and depth ofthe cuttings for the clamps and dowels,the positions of the pry-holes and of thecuttings for the auxiliary dowels made in

the course of setting the overlying blocks,as well as some particular features specificto each individual block. As has alreadybeen noted, the blocks of courses 19 and20 are narrower than the others. Theblocks of the 20th course in particular canbe distinguished from the underlying onesbecause they display a finished sinkage of0.065 m. in width along the upper edge oftheir outer face. Some of these have in ad-dition horizontal cuttings joining themwith the Ionic architrave blocks that reston the walls. The inner face of both thesetwo courses was roughly tooled, since itremained invisible behind the wallepistyle blocks.During the study it wasfound that both these courses had been set

beginning at the west end, since the cut-tings for the dowels are on the east thrustsurface, that is on the right of the face ofeach block. This proved to be the mostsignificant criterion of their distinctionfrom the blocks of the correspondingcourses of the north wall, which have thedowel cuttings at the left of the block face,since they were set in the same direction.The degree of natural erosion of the facesof the wall blocks was not a basic criterionfor distinguishing them, as there was noclear difference in terms of damage be-

tween the blocks of the north and southwalls of those courses. In the course of theinterior cornice, the four blocks in situhad been set beginning at the west endand the fifth from the east was the termi-nating block of the course (the last-laidintermediate block). In addition, it wasfound that only the southernmost of thetwo vertical dowels on the upper surfacesfor connecting them with the blocks of the19th course, in the end was actually used;so too in the underlying course, dowel cut-tings were observed that had not beenused.The exterior face of the blocks of allthe courses has an incline so that the twodihedral corners formed by the meetingof the plane of the exterior face of the

block with the upper and lower horizotalplanes are, the upper dihedral corner ob-tuse, and the lower dihedral corner acute.The divergence from the vertical of thissurface, which corresponds to the heightof each block, is approximately four mil-limeters.

A total of four interior cornice blocks wereexamined. Of these, three were on theground in the area south of the Propylaiawhile the fourth, in the British Museum,was measured in the summer of 2000 bythe architect T. Tanoulas. We may notethat this block had been carried off to-gether with other architectural membersof the Acropolis monuments by Lord Elginbetween the years 1800 and 1803. On itsupper bedding surface, the block of interi-or cornice in the British Museum has cut-tings for lowering it with the help of agrab and, in addition, there are auxiliarydowel holes on the west surface of thrustfor the support of the overlying blocks.This specific block was therefore the lastin its row to be set, after the last of theblocks adjacent to it from the east and thewest were dowelled, and it occupied thefifth position from the east. A block madeof new marble will be set in its place. Westof this block will be set the other threecrown blocks that were examined.

For the arrangement of the blocks of the19th course, a total of seven wall blockswere examined. The block that is firstfrom the east was not found among them.By analogy with the corresponding blockof the north wall, it was indubitably L-shaped since part of the east surface ofthrust entered between the wall-support-ed architrave of the south wall of the eastportico and because it was set last in theseries. In its place will be set a similarblock of new marble. Finally, examinationof the remaining blocks of this courseshowed that only one met the criteria nec-essary for including it in the anastelosisproposed at present. It also emerged thatamong the blocks reset on the wall, in-

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The south wall of the central building, south facade, after its restoration.Drawing T. Tanoulas

cluding those up to the seventh from theeast, not a single one remained in the po-sition it had occupied in the anastelosis of1836.

A total of eight blocks were examined inconnection with the arrangement of theblocks of the 20th course. Not one of thesecould be assigned to the first from east po-sition. As verified from the correspondingblock of the north wall, this too will havebeen L-shaped, just as the underlyingblock, and shorter than the adjacentblocks. In this case too, replacement by asimilar block of new marble was pro-posed. Research also showed that the twoblocks did not meetthe criteria necessaryfor their inclusion inthe south wall. Wenote that one ofthese (AA¢ 5219)was included in therestoration of thenorth wall in theplace of a blockwrongly set by Bal-anos, which was fi-nally included in therestoration proposedat present and occu-pied the last, seventhfrom east, position.None of the threethat had been re-stored in 1836, oc-cupied the sameplace again.

Finally, the position of the only preservedcornice block of the south wall is at theeast end, as is evident from its comparisonwith the corresponding cornice blocks ofthe north wall. It was found to have thesame technical characteristics as the firstfrom the east cornice block on the northwall, the only difference being that inlength and in width it is larger. Thesecharacteristics are the L-shape face wherethe stone abuts the wall epistyle block of

the south side of the east portico, whereits face shows to the right, i.e. on the eastthrust surface; also the slight bulge mea-suring 0.355 m. x 0.75 m. in the east sideof the upper resting surface, on whichrests a block of the west pediment in theeast portico.

Of the twenty blocks covered by the study,including the wrongly placed block of thenorth wall, sixteen were identified as be-longing to the south wall. Eight of theseare blocks that had not been previously re-stored. The condition in which they werefound was in general good, so that theyneeded neither the joining of ancient frag-

ments nor many large supplements of newmarble. Specifically, it was decided to fillin with new marble four blocks of the19th course. These are four small supple-ments that were considered necessary fora secure setting of the clamps and dowels.In addition, a small filling was made forthe bedding of the block AA¢ 5159, thelower resting surface of which had beenhollowed out in order to use it as a basinor lekane. Finally, the study calls for re-

setting three more blocks, which, as al-ready noted, are to be made entirely ofnew marble, thus increasing the totalnumber of blocks in the restoration tonineteen. These are the block of the interi-or cornice that replaces the block in theBritish Museum and the first blocks fromthe east in courses 20 and 19, necessaryfor the bedding of the cornice block.

We note that for the needs of the restora-tion, it was necessary to dismantle the lastin situ block of the interior cornice towardthe west (AI.N.£P.8), next to which thefour blocks of the intervention programmeare set.

The reconstructionof the superstructureof the south wall ofthe central buildingof the Propylaia,while an indepen-dent project, can beconsidered as a con-tinuation of the com-pleted programme ofrestoring its ceilings,because it supple-ments in an intelligi-ble way the structur-al tissue of the mon-ument that was sothoroughly distur-bed by the explosionof 1640. By utilizingpreserved authenticmaterial from the

area of the buildingand setting it in its inital position, thestudy makes the building more compre-hensible and contributes to the aestheticimprovement of the image of the monu-ment as a whole.

Konstantinos KaranasosDr Architect

Propylaia Restoration Project

1. Dismantling the in situ block of the interior cornice of the south wall 2. Resetting the block ofinterior cornice made of new marble 3. Carving the final surface of the block of interior cornicemade of new marble 4. Mending a new marble filling to one of the blocks of the 19th course.Photo K. Karanasos, 2010- 2011

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One of the programmes of the YSMA Con-servation Section that is in progress todayis the conservation and cleaning of the cof-fered ceiling of the porch of the Maidensin the Erechtheion. The cleaning of pollu-tants, the deposits of soot and black in-crustation, with the use of laser technolo-gy, included in the conservation pro-gramme, is being carried out in collabora-tion with the Institute of ElectronicStructure and Lasersof the Foundationfor Research andTechnology Hellas(IESL-FORTH). Forthis purpose, the in-terior space of theporch, behind thecopies of the Cary-atids, was closed offby a panel of poly-carbonate sheets. Araised floor was con-structed, providingaccess to the ceilingin order to do thework.

The ceiling compris-es four slabs 4 m. inlength, all of whichare held at theirnorth end in thesouth wall while atthe south end they are bedded on the ar-chitrave of the south side. The two outerones (east and west) consist of single rowsof coffers and at their east and west sidesrespectively they rest on the architraves ofthe east and west sides of the monument -threefold support (Study for the Restora-tion of the Erechtheion, Athens 1977).The two middle ones, each have threerows of coffers. The numbering of theeight rows of plaques, is from west to eastfrom number 1 to number 8, and the cof-fers from north to south from the letter Ato the letter E. Each row is made up of 5coffers. All the slabs are decorated withcoffers, which have horizontal bands al-

ternating in steps with cymatia (curvedsurfaces) to end in flat surfaces, the cofferlids. The total number of coffers in the en-tire ceiling is forty. On their lower surface,the coffers are enframed by an astragal inrelief and, according to Stevens’ study(G.P.Stevens and J.M. Paton: TheErechtheum, Cambridge Massachusetts,1927), in the spaces between them tracesof a painted pattern are visible, a narrow

band of colour (decorative band). There isa similar band around the coffers. Thesame study likewise reports a painted eggpattern on the cymatia of the coffers (Ioniccymatium) and a lack of decoration onthe coffer grounds.

As for today’s picture, it was found that,except for a very few cases reported below,neither on the interior surfaces of the cof-fers (cymatia, bands) nor on the lowersurfaces around these, can a distinct paint-ed decoration be observed. At the sametime, the existence of coatings in combi-nation with deposits of soot and black in-crustation, has resulted in a picture that is

even more confused. The coatings cover achromatic scale from white to beige andare probably evidence of later efforts tocover or protect the ancient painted deco-ration. During the course of cleaning withlaser, it was found that the coatings cover alarge part of the stepped surfaces of thecoffers. Careful observation revealed thaton 25 of the 40 coffers there are depositson cymatia, bands and on areas between

or around the astra-gals. In a consider-able number ofbands this coveringis practically homo-geneous over the en-tire marble surface.Traces of painteddecoration whichwas difficult to in-terpret were ob-served on cymatia offour coffers, while infive cases, belowand between thecoffers, we findtraces of the bandreported by Stevens.Distinguished in allcases on these cof-fers, on both bandsand cymatia, is asimilar layer ofblack colour be-

neath the beige, which is clearly distin-guishable from the black incrustation.

Analytically:Many of the astragals are missing from thelower surface of the 1st coffered slab andthose preserved show some change ofform. Preserved beneath º1°-º1¢ andº1¢-º1E, on the lower surface of the cof-fers, are parts of the two decorative bands,mentioned above. Preserved in fairly goodcondition on the interior sides of the cof-fers in many places are layers of blackcolour that, because of its homogeneityand its extent (it covers nearly the entirearea of the flat surfaces) gives the impres-

The gradual revealing of colour on the ceiling of the Porch of the Maidens inthe Erechtheion

General view of the coffered ceiling of the Caryatid porch. Photo G.Frantzi, 2011

sion of a background. A specific exampleis provided by the bands on two cofferedslabs (º1° and º1¢). On the progressive-ly curving cymatia of the north side –ofthe coffer º1¢– traces of outlines havebeen found that dimly suggest the egg pat-tern and are the only case of painted deco-ration found on an Ionic cymatium. Withvery good lighting, one can also see bits ofblue colour in the area of the suggestedbackground. On this coffer, the beige coat-ing is missing and trial cleaning withlaser revealed scattered bits of blue colour.On the remaining 4 coffers of the 1st slabthe beige coating is preserved (in somecases white) both on bands and on cyma-tia. In some cases, moreover, there aretraces of brush-work on it, supporting thehypothesis that it is a coating that was ap-plied at a later time.

In the 2nd coffered slab the deteriorationis limited to surface sulphation. The lowersurface on coffers º2°, º3E has cracksand sulphated parts of the surface of cofferº2A are flaking off. Damage to the reliefastragals here too is extensive. In addition,a thin skin is observable beneath the blackincrustation, which has pulled loose in anumber of places, while here and there it

little bulges - swellings; it is entirely iden-tical with the beige layer. Bits of bluecolour were observed on a number of cof-fers around the relief astragals.Traces of abeige coating are visible on nearly all thecoffers above the black layer, while bits of

blue colour can be discerned here too onsome coffers, but only on the cymatia.

The 3rd coffered slab is the one that wasthe most problematical because of its col-lapse during the Greek Revolution. As aresult it broke into five large fragmentsand other smaller pieces, so that a largepart of it has now been filled with newmarble. The lower surface of the slab haslikewise suffered great damage. Lost prac-tically entirely is the decoration and,specifically, the astragals at the perimeterof the coffers. On this slab two coffers pre-serve remains of a beige coating, but it islimited because of the great wear and ex-tensive interventions it has suffered. A sig-nificant element that has emerged onsome coffers –after cleaning the surface bymeans of laser– is that the surface has anespecially orange tint that distinguishes itfrom the natural colour of the marble.This, combined with the results of analyt-ical methods that were used and are de-scribed below, perhaps verifies the exis-tence of an orange-brown coloured layer

Traces of the two decorative bands on the lower surface between the coffers º1°- º1¢.Photo S. Mavrommatis, 2008.

Detail of the first cymatium of the west view of the coffered slab º1¢ (coffer 1 West). The circlesindicate the existence of blue colour. Photo T.Souvlakis, 2009

(known as “epidermis”) that we find inother cases as well, on all the Acropolismonuments (calcium oxalate and calciumphosphate). In a few isolated cases aftercleaning with laser bits of blue colourhave also been revealed.

Preserved quite well on the lower surface ofthe 4th coffered slab, is a large section ofthe astragals, mainly at the east end, whilethe west end, which is next to the greatlydamaged third coffered slab, is missing itscarved decoration and has considerablesurface damage. Preserved on three coffersin excellent condition is the beige coatingand the black layer beneath it. It is worthnoting that the beige coating shows a ho-mogeneity in texture and in thickness, andan orange tone compared to its appearanceon the other slabs. The soot deposits,moreover, adhere to it with exceptionalstrength. In some cases after cleaningtraces of blue colour emerge here too.

In accordance with all the above observa-tions, blue colour has been found on a

considerable number of coffers, and it isnow a question of determining if this isEgyptian blue or azurite. Egyptian blue(CaCuSi4O10) –possibly the first com-pound pigment in the world– is known asearly as the 4th Egyptian dynasty (2600-2500 B.C.) and it is a mixture of limepowder, quartz sand, copper ore and na-tron. Azurite (basic copper carbonate2CuCO3 _ Cu(OH)2) was known in an-tiquity and Pliny the Elder refers to it as“΢·Ófi˜” or “caeruleum”. The use of azu-rite on stone gives it a colour that rangesfrom indigo to sky-blue (ultramarine) andfrom cobalt to turquoise.

With the approval of the ESMA for re-search on the coatings of the surfaces ofthe coffers, in the first phase the followingnon-destructive methods of analysis werechosen: Multispectral imaging camerasMusis of Forth–Photonics and of the Diag-nostic Centre of Ormylia. Also by meansof X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry(XRF) with which copper was detected inmany places on the ceiling (indicating the

presence of azurite or Egyptian blue) andcalcium (in combination with the copperan indication of Egyptian blue), also leadand iron, indicating other pigments aswell.

Finally, the most revealing method withwhich Egyptian blue was detected andphotographed in December 2009 was theVIL method (visible-induced lumines-cence imaging) developed by Dr. G. Verri,then post-doctoral research associate ofthe British Museum and now lecturer atUCL. This method is very simple in its ap-plication and it is valuable for detectingsome of the polychrome concealed by themonuments. Its greatest advantage, how-ever, is that it is a non-destructive methodthat does not require samples. The objectbeing examined is illuminated by visiblelight in a dark environment. According toG. Verri the emission of the Egyptian bluecan be recorded using visible sources ofstimulation and a camera with some sensi-tivity to IR radiation at 800-1000nm ofthe electromagnetic spectrum. In themonochrome photographs VIL, theEgyptian blue shows up as a bright white,whereas all the other colours materialslook grey. Indeed, with this method theresult was impressive. It was revealed thaton many coffers remains of Egyptian bluewere preserved, in a considerable numberof cases on the curved cymatia and, of pri-mary importance, in some cases invisibleto the naked eye. What proved to be thegreatest discovery was the emergence indetail of the pattern of the decoration,which is an Ionic cymatium with pal-mettes (anthemia) in the corners andwhich are depicted on the three cymatiaon all sides of each coffer. With thismethod, likewise, the presence of bluecolour was perceived around the relief as-tragals on the lower surface of the coffers.Significant too is the fact that even theground of the coffers, where it was previ-ously noted that painted decoration wasunlikely, scattered traces of Egyptian bluewas found, making it likely that there was

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The Egyptian blue is mapped as a bright white using the VIL method. Photo G. Verri, 2009

a sky-blue background. Also on the 3rdslab, where no coatings were preserved,traces of Egyptian blue have been discov-ered on cymatia after cleaning with laser.

What is it that prevents detection of thepatterns by the naked eye? The fact thatmost of the coffers have been covered bythe beige coating is the reason why theblue colour is no longer visible on the cof-fers. Yet even in cases where the coffershave no such coating the decoration isstill not clear macroscopically. For exam-ple, on coffer º1¢ where a clear and uni-fied black layer is observable and above itbits of blue pigment, the revelation of thepatterns on the Ionic cymatium with theapplication of the Verri method is indeedimpressive. It is evident that the crystalsof the Egyptian blue penetrated into theblack layer and even into the marble andessentially are revealed by means of pho-tography as a majestic blue backgroundthat today can be recognised only as abright white in the digital photographsVIL. This was verified also by the analyti-cal methods (second phase of analyses),that were carried out in the laboratory ofarcheometry - materials science of the

NCSR Demokritos by I. Karatasios andthe conservation group of the Ere-chtheion, staffed by G. Frantzi, A. Mari-daki, and D. Garbis and the former headof the Surface Conservation Section, E.Papakonstantinou. With the X-Ray Dif-fraction analysis (XRD) the chemical for-mula of Egyptian blue was identified andwith Scanning Electron Microscope

analyses (SEM/EDAX) it emerged thatthe crystals of Egyptian blue indeed werefound in the fabric of the marble or in theblack layer. As for the beige skin, it wasfound to be a layer of calcium composi-tion. Worth noting is the existence of cal-cium oxalate and calcium phosphate,which certifies the existence of the or-ange-brown layer in a considerable num-ber of cases and agrees with the earlieranalyses. Observation with a polarizingmicroscope likewise verified the stratigra-phy of the samples where, beneath thebeige, the existence of a black layer hadbeen ascertained –the composition ofwhich to date remains unexplained.

Since then, the Erechtheion conservationgroup has acquired the correspondingcamera and is already photographing theceiling coffers over an extensive area.

Giasemi FrantziConservator of Antiquities

and Works of ArtSection of Surface Conservation

of the Monuments

Visible in the west side of coffer º¢1 is the black layer on both the level and the curved surfaces.Photo G. Verri, 2009

The Egyptian blue is mapped as a bright white using the VIL method. Photo G. Verri, 2009

Cast copies have been used on the Acropo-lis monuments to replace the sculpturedarchitectural members as early as 170years ago in the first anasteloses. Eversince then the material of the copies andthe method of producing them has contin-ued to be a matter of concern, since theyare connected withareas of the monu-ments of major im-portance for theirimage and meaning,designed to attractattention, such asmetopes, friezes,pedimental sculp-ture, the Caryatids,lion-head spouts onthe simas, and eventhe architecturalmembers of compos-ite form, such as theIonic capitals.

Historical back-groundCasts were first em-ployed in restorationon the Acropolis inthe mid-19th century and their use wasconfined to copies of the Elgin marblesthat were sent from the British Museum.Restored on the temple of Athena Nike to-gether with the authentic frieze were theceramic (?) dark coloured copies of fourfrieze blocks that had been removed by El-gin and, for the restoration of the porch ofthe Caryatids, a ceramic (?) copy from theBritish Museum was set in place of thethird Caryatid. During this same period,the damaged 6th Caryatid was replaced bya new marble figure carved by the sculptorAndreoli, incorporating only the ancientfragment of its torso. The new Caryatidhad been rendered with classicistic ex-pression and details, and it remained toremind subsequent restorers of the differ-ence between a free copy in marble and afaithful cast copy. In the second genera-tion of anasteloses, the so-called period ofBalanos, the focus of concern was on the

west frieze of the Parthenon, especially onhow to replace the two northernmostblocks, which are in the British Museum.Initially it was decided to carve marbleblocks leaving a “projection” for a futurecarving of the relief. The matter was thenreconsidered and it was decided to make

the blocks with a “recess” for the futuresetting of plaster casts. In the third reviewof the problem, the Committee decided toreplace the missing blocks with simplemarble blocks, cut without the relief, buton the same level as those in situ. The re-peated reviews show the perplexity and

innate difficulty ofthe question of re-storing sculptured ar-chitectural memberssuch as the frieze.The three alternativeproposals summarizethe three possibilitiesfor replacing a sculp-tured member. Theywill return to centrestage in the restora-tions of later times.

In 1932 “cement”casts of the horses ofthe chariot of Apolloand of the statue ofDionysos were sentby the British Muse-um and set in placein the east pediment.

It was said then that they would be theretemporarily, since the project elicitedmany objections at the time.

In the more recent period of the Acropolisrestorations of 1976-1977, the group ofKekrops and his daughter, and alsoKallirhoe in the west pediment were re-moved and replaced by copies made ofpolyester, sent by the British Museum.

In 1979 the Caryatids were removed whenthere was no longer any doubt about theincreasing erosion of their surfaces andevery alternative for retaining them in situhad been exhausted. Five years later, castcement copies were set in place. The theo-retical and technical speculation of thattime on the subject of introducing copiesplayed a part in working out the method-ology and practices that have ultimatelybeen established in the Acropolis restora-

The replacement of sculptured architectural members on the monuments ofthe Acropolis. Casts, copies and authentic members

The Erechtheion in 1844, drawing by Hansen. Visible in two pieces is the cast of the 3rdCaryatid that was sent by Lord Guilford

The 6th Caryatid as it was in 1904.Balanos Archive

tions. Together with the copies of the fourauthentic Caryatids, copies were made atthat time in the same way, without anydistinction to show the different history oftheir more recent date, of the 3rd Caryatidand the 6th –restored– Caryatid. Incorpo-rated were very few authentic pieces,while the broken nose on the face of theKore –the work of a vandal in 1905– wasnot restored.

During the succeeding decades nearly allthe sculptured architectural memberswere replaced with cast copies: in 1990,the east metopes of the Parthenon, the NEsima in one piece with the lion-head, afterdiscussion and rejection of the alternatesolution of making a marble copy, and thecement copies of the statues of the eastpediment were renewed. In 2002-3 copiesof the Parthenon west frieze were set inplace and 2008 saw the setting of copies ofthe westernmost metopes of the north sideof the Parthenon and the frieze of the tem-ple of Athena Nike.

For the copies of the Parthenon west friezeparticularly, P. Kouphopoulos, Architect-Engineer, and the Committee for Conser-vation of the Acropolis Monuments (ES-MA) devoted lengthy research to the ques-tion of materials. Discussed was the choi-ce between making a full cast of the blockin a cement mould or creating compoundblocks with marble in the main mass andcasting the relief façade. The relevantquestion was posed for the colleagues ofthe 3rd International Meeting in 1990,when the choice of marble copies was sug-gested by many delegates. In two in-stances reference was made to the newesttechnology of the time, electronical stere-opantographs. Finally, after much backand forth reexamination of the subject, thesolution of a complex form of marble withcement façade was chosen. This definitivedecision and the deviation from the prin-ciple of retaining the original structure inthe restorations, had a strong effect on thepossibility of restoring the sculptured sur-faces in the future. In the more recent pe-

riod of the restorations, during the pastfive years, exceptions to the general use ofcast copies are seen in the marble copiesof the Ionic column capitals of the Propy-laia and the sima with the lion heads onthe temple of Athena Nike. It was decidedfinally that the reconstruction of the Ioniccolumn capitals of the Propylaia in marblewas better aesthetically since this would“...emphasise the design by Mnesikles”. A

similar intervention had been made like-wise by Orlandos in the restoration of thecorner column capital of the temple ofAthena Nike, although on a smaller scale.Today, the only authentic sculpture still insitu on the Parthenon are the metopes ofthe west side of the monument. In theframework of restoring the west side of theParthenon it is planned to replace the 6metopes of the corners with copies, amove that has given rise to the presenttheoretical concern. At this very moment,no final solution to the problem of thecopies has been found and it is still timelysince it is clear that during the comingdecades the older cast copies will have to

be replaced because of ageing.

The conventional –cement– copies of thesculptured members of the classical mon-uments, as is evident also from the inter-national meetings on the Acropolisrestorations, were never considered entire-ly successful from the aesthetic point ofview. This is because they lack clarity andcrystalline texture, qualities that are in-

herent in our image of ancient works ofart. Recorded likewise is the view sup-porting a technical solution, which wouldallow reexamination of the subject in thefuture and replacement of the copies withothers made of more satisfactory materi-als.

Casts and copies, new prospects andobjectionsToday the question of copies is more time-ly than ever before, since the developmentof three-dimensional electronic scanningand CNC –computer numerical controlmachine tools– changes the technologicalsituation and the possibilities of producing

1 2

1. The 3rd Caryatid during its removal in 19792.Detail showing damage to the surface after 66 years ofexposure (1913-1979)Photo A. Papanikolaou, 1979

copies. For the first time an automaticfaithful copy carved in a material that isthe same as that of the authentic memberappears to be feasible, without the needfor contact, most often insecure, with theoriginal itself.

Furthermore, the creation of a digitalmodel from a scanned ancient membermakes it possible to fill in (in places, if notentirely) areas where the geometry isclear. In other words, it is possible to pro-duce a digital restoration of its form, as inthe case of the Ionic column capital fromthe Abaton of Epidauros, where the dam-aged ancient column capital was digitallyscanned and reproduced with stereopan-tograph –CNC– in Aeginetan sandstone.Likewise, in the recent anastelosis of thetemple of Athena Nike, the sima with therestored lion-heads was completed digital-ly in the areas where it was carved in onepiece with the tile and then the entire ar-chitectural member was reproduced withstereopantograph –CNC– as a single mar-ble unit.

Beyond their widespread commercial usetoday, these applications are used for thedigital scanning of ancient sculptures andthe production of copies in marble. Exam-

ples are the goddess Pomona, a 17th cen-tury statue in the round, 1.90 m. inheight, from the gardens of the Het Loopalace in Holland, or the famous head ofthe Colossos of Constantine exhibited onthe Capitoline hill in Rome; for a relatedexhibition, a copy was made in solid Car-rara marble weighing 25 tons.

These technologies, moreover, are beingwidely applied in the works on the Acrop-olis in producing marble fillings for vari-ous architectural members, providing alsothe possibility of monitoring the accuracyof their measurements, and their preciseagreement with the ancient surfaces.

The value of the copy lies in the possibili-ty of consolidating the form, as preservedtoday, in an objective way. This is whymarble copies made by hand were exclud-ed in the past; for they were affected bythe skill of the individual, the artistic na-ture and undoubted “interpretation” ofthe sculptor/copyist on the work. And letme to repeat here my view that the prefer-ence up to now for cast copies lies precise-ly in the fact that the authentic is repro-duced automatically and is not easily af-fected by interpretations.

From another standpoint, to be sure, thecreation of faithful copies undermines thevalue of the original, which, among otherthings, is defined by its uniqueness. Yet weshould bear in mind that the creation andspread of copies is an unquestionablechapter in the History of Art.

There is to be sure the matter of showingthe difference between copy and original.In fact, always in question in theanasteloses is the degree to which the in-terventions should discriminate betweenthe new and the authentic members orfillings. It is considered that the morefaultless the fillings and more faithful thecopies, the more difficult their distinctionby non-specialists. Yet strong differentia-tions in the interventions degrades theimage of the monuments. In this connec-tion Professor Ch. Bouras rightly observesthat the additions in new material“should not, be evident from a distance,but only from close up...”. Successful andsufficient technology of copy-making is,in my opinion, that which provides thepossibility of total accuracy, so that wecan choose the degree of differentiation.In this sense, what is at stake in the pro-duction of copies is not the achievement

25

The cast of the Kecrops group being lifted into position. Photo D. Monokrousos, 1977

Casts of the statues in the east pediment.Dionysos after the setting of his thighsPhoto P. Kouphopoulos, 1992

of differentiation but rather the attain-

ment of similarity.

With the method of the computer numeri-

cal control machine tools the difference is

easily monitored. A variety of evidence formaking copies is easily available, such asthe preservation, to the extent desired, ofthe “contour” lines of the mechanicalmovement of the cutting head. Further-more, the geological structure and thedamage will always be clearly different inthe original and the copy.

The main question, in my opinion, posedin the choice of material for restoration isthe insertion of differentated material inthe image and meaning of the monument.The method of making copies is a contem-porary solution to that problem. In theAcropolis restoration marble has beenused in most of the restored architecturalmembers, whereas for the sculpturedmembers, exceptionally, the copies arecast. This practice was in accordance withthe principles of restoration, given thetechnology of the time. Yet it causedasymmetry in the composition, texture,resistance and aging between the mem-bers of the monument, since the life-spanof a copy made of artificial stone is lessthan that of a marble one. Thus serious

aesthetic as well as practical questions,–the deterioration of the cast copies–oblige us continuously to review the sup-plements –technically, structurally andfrom the standpoint of material– in orderto obtain the same life-span and compati-ble aging image throughout the entiremonument, and therefore a more generalaesthetic balance.In accordance with the above, the keypoints for the choice of copies are, briefly,the following:ñ The sculptured architectural members areof primary importance on a monumentalmasterpiece such as the Parthenon –with asignificance even greater than that of the ar-chitectural members. To the extent possi-ble, their restoration must enable them toretain the qualities and associations withthe architectural work as a whole, whichthey had in their original form.

ñ A principle in the Acropolis restorations isto retain the form, the ancient structure andthe material of the monument –marble.

Copies of the west frieze of the Parthenonbeing set in place.Photo R. Christodoulopoulou, 2003

Detail showing the setting of two slabs of the west frieze. Photo V. Manidaki, 2010

Cast copy from the Parthenon frieze (2) and amiddle phase during its carving by means ofa CNC stereopantograph (1)Photo Venus Company, 2007

2

1

ñ It must be possible to treat the additionsand replacements of the architecturalmembers in a unified way on the monu-ment in respect to techniques, structureand material and, by extension, the dura-bility to be expected.

ñ The technological possibilities for pro-ducing copies in each period must be tak-en into account.

The excellent reception of the Ionic col-umn capitals of the Propylaia, which weremade entirely from new marble and thescepticism about the image of cast copiesas seen from nearby are two observationsof concern.

The subject of the use of new technologiesfor producing marble copies was dis-cussed by the Committee for Conservationof the Acropolis Monuments (ESMA) inFebruary 2011 and it was decided to re-tain the existing theoretical principle andpractice. The subject remains, however, asa question in the restoration of monu-ments that will indubitably occupy us inthe future.

AcknowledgementsI should like to thank the members of theCommittee for Conservation of the Acrop-olis Monuments (ESMA), in particular thePresident of the Committee ProfessorEmeritus Ch. Bouras, the Director of theYSMA, M. Ioannidou and Professor F.Mallouchou, for providing me with accessto the ESMA-YSMA archive. I thank alsoProfessor M. Korres, the civil engineer K.Zambas, D. Giraud –until recently direc-tor of DAAM– Martin Cooper, head of theConservation Centre of the Liverpool Mu-seum, the architect N. Toganidis, the ar-chitect G. Mavrommatidis, the civil engi-neer E.-E. Toumbakari, the President ofthe VENUS Company, E. Mazitzoglou, thesculptor D. Mastropoulos, all the col-leagues of the YSMA, engineers, archaeol-ogists, sculptors, marble sculptors and, es-pecially, the cast team of the YSMA, fortheir instructive information and enlight-

ening viewpoints of theoretical and practi-cal questions concerning the copies.

Vassileia ManidakiArchitect

Parthenon Restoration Project

27

Marble filling in the sculptured decoration of the Porch of the CaryatidsPhoto V. Manidaki, 2010

Cast copy of the reconstructed marble capital of the 6th CaryatidPhoto V. Manidaki, 2010

*The present article is a summary of the workreported under the same title in the Conference“Methods of Anastelosis, materials and problemsof application” of the Society for Research andPromotion of the Scientific Anastelosis ofMonuments, held in Thessalonike on 20November 2010.

Background to decisions governingthe pronaos’ restoration - theoreticalconcerns.The restoration of the Parthenon’s hexas-tyle pronaos has long proved a subject ofmajor theoretical discussion, which hascontinued from the completion of Korres’restoration study in 1989, through its im-

plementation in 1998-2004, until today–more than 20 years later. This relativelyfar-reaching intervention had no prece-dent among previous modern works onthe Parthenon, with regard to its extent,and it therefore elicited a variety of objec-tions concerning the acceptance of such adrastic change to the long-familiar form ofthe monument –even if such a changewere to be documented in detail. The caseof the pronaos also illuminated a generalproblem in restoration practises: the needto harmonize the different theoretical per-spectives of the various specialists in-volved in restoration concerning philo-sophical or practical aspects of interven-tions, including their aim and extent. Themain concerns to arise at the time of the1990 decision focused initially on thequestions of total versus partial restorationof the pronaos and the acceptable quantityof new marble to be introduced. Ultimate-

ly, however, the greatest concern seemedto become the unresolved problem ofwhich final form should be approved forthe new in-fillings on the inner sides ofthe columns.

Disagreement in 1990 at the level of thegoverning Central Archaeological Councilconcerning the final form of the surfaces ofnew fillings to be installed in the pronaos’columns postponed the final decision toproceed with the restoration and led tothe supplementary study of 1994 by C.Bouras. The new 1994 study proposedleaving the intended marble in-fillings ofthe column drums unfluted, with the re-sult that the in-filled parts would appearas simple, partial cylinders. This proposedchoice of form had as its precedent a suc-cessful similar choice, made by A. Orlan-dos during the reconstruction of the Hep-haisteion’s east-porch columns in the1950s. One key advantage of Bouras’1994 proposal to ESMA was its allowancefor the possibility of future fluting thecolumns; that is, after the work was com-pleted, it would be possible to reconsiderthe matter of the reconstructed columns’omitted flutes and to decide whether ornot to proceed with fluting. This new1994 solution, endorsed at the time as be-ing fully reversible, postponed the prob-lem of choosing the final treatment of thecolumns’ surfaces until the followingdecade. Now that time has come, sinceimplementation of the 1994 decision hasenabled YSMA to reexamine the strengthsand weaknesses of the pronaos restorationfor the purpose of achieving a fuller, moresatisfying response to theoretical concernsand aesthetic questions underlying pre-sent-day approaches to restoration.

Contemporary interventions as rescueworks Contemporary interventions on the monu-ments of the Acropolis are essentially res-cue works, in the sense that they givepreference to repairing or replacing Bal-anos’ previous anasteloses. This focus hasthe advantage of providing an already es-tablished framework for determining theextent and form of interventions to be un-dertaken on sections of the Acropolismonuments that have earlier been re-

stored. In the case of the original anastelo-sis of the north colonnade in 1923-1931,Balanos fought hard to secure acceptanceof the clearly new form that he wasproposing for the monument and succeed-ed after a struggle of ten years. This form,inherited by present-day restorers, haslong been considered aesthetically accept-able, thus making it difficult to reverse.This difficulty is aptly manifested in thescepticism that has greeted contemporaryproposals, such as those for the pronaos,which call for changes to the familiar im-age of the monument. It is a scepticismthat has evoked discussions concerningthe preservation of historical continuity,while overlooking the fact that the presentimage of the Acropolis monuments is to agreat extent the product of earlier, 19th

and 20th century restorers, rather than ofany previous historical process.

Changing the image The idea that no drastic change should bemade to the image of the ruin is a basicprinciple of modern restoration to the ex-tent that this principle does not become abrake on efforts to improve the buildingwith newly identified and preservedmembers. Rather than being limited tosimple conservation of the ruins, the aim

The restoration of the Parthenon’s pronaos:aesthetical matter or theoretical dilemma?

View of inner side of pronaos columns, look-ing NE. Photo L. Lambrinou, 2009

View of pronaos columns, looking N.Photo L. Lambrinou, 2009

of contemporary Acropolis interventions isto reincorporate newly identified mem-bers. The Acropolis monuments are ap-proached as architectural creations, notsimply as inherited, unchangeable ex-hibits. In this sense, the purpose of reset-ting newly identified members within thebuildings is to give them their fullest andmost recognisable form, whether or notthis upsets their established image. Thus,the current efforts being made on theAcropolis are intended primarily to im-prove the monuments of the Acropolis aes-thetically and pedagogically. It should beevident, nevertheless, that every interven-tion on an Acropolis monument leads to anew, non-historical, albeit reversible im-age of the monument. This a priori cost tothe monument’s existing image we con-sider to be balanced by the resulting gainin comprehensibility, as well as by the res-cue of previously scattered ancient materi-al through its incorporation into the mon-ument. The term “rescue” is employedhere because the architectural membersscattered on the ground are fragmentary,not suitable for exhibition and not easilyunderstood. Restored to their original po-sitions on the monument, however, theyregain their primary role and clearly con-tribute to the building’s completeness.

Preservation of historical evidenceIn every restoration undertaken on theAcropolis, the basic premise is that a mon-ument’s historical evidence will be safe-guarded and preserved. Clearly every in-tervention, just as every process of excava-tion, carries a certain cost to the preserva-tion of the monument. Traces left on thebuilding by identifiable historical eventsare considered to be historical evidence.Ultimately, however, all traces visible on abuilding’s architectural members, whe-ther random or intentional, including thefractured areas themselves of any partlypreserved members, can be considered his-torical evidence. When an intervention isbased on the filling-in of fragmentarymembers, the preservation of all randomtraces on this architectural material cannotbe set as a priority, since setting such a pri-ority would be self-contradictory. On thecontrary, the in-filling of incomplete archi-tectural members is guided in such a way

as to preserve those traces left by the build-ing’s original construction or subsequenthistorical events. Telltale marks left fromthe blocks’ original carving and the recog-nisable traces of later constructions (i.e re-pairs, additions, conversions) on the build-ing constitute important historical evi-

dence that is prioritised for preservation.

The inward-facing, fire-damaged surfacesof the pronaos’ column drums fell awayfrom the columns’ upper areas, but arestill largely preserved on the lower in situparts of the columns. This evidence of thefire-damaged surfaces is a fortuitous resultof a chance event in the history of the mo-nument that indicates the way in whichthe building was destroyed. Nevertheless,the fire-damaged pronaos columns in par-ticular were thought to represent a specialcase, since the thermal fracturing of theirsurfaces constituted one of the centralpieces of evidence attesting to the damagecaused by the ancient fire. The interiorsides of the pronaos columns would havebeen especially interesting had they beenpreserved historically. Since the drumfragments that survived, and which havebeen incorporated into the monument, do

not exhibit fire-damaged surfaces on theirwestern, inner sides, their completionwith new marble scarcely affects any sec-tions containing thermal fracturing.

On the other hand, sections of column

drums with traces of thermal fracture pre-served on their north and south sides hadto be treated differently. Here an attemptwas made not to cover these traces withnew marble additions. The result was adiscontinuity in the forms of in-fillings anda somewhat unharmonious final aestheticresult. Ancient mortises cut in the sides ofthe columns, which served for the attach-ment of intercolumnar screens, have notbeen concealed by new in-fillings. Similar-ly left visible are the traces of coarse carv-ing (with a pointed tool) on the middlecolumns where the Byzantine apse wasonce attached to them. Preserved also inthese areas are the fluteless sections of thedrums scarred by thermal fracturing.

Historical consistencyOn the issue of historical consistency (orinconsistency) in the anastelosis of thepronaos the past and present acceptance of

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1.Pronaos column (4th from N) beforerestoration. Rectangular fence-cutting visibleon upper, 4th drum.Photo S. Mavrommatis, 19892. Detail of 4th column from N after restora-tion. Still visible are the traces for supportsof ancient fences and Byzantine cuttings.Photo L. Lambrinou, 2009

1 2

interventions on the Acropolis’ ancientmonuments constitutes, by definition, ac-ceptance of this paradox. Historical incon-sistency is inherent to the very idea of pre-serving the ruins of ancient monuments;that is, in consolidating them at some par-ticular, chosen moment or stage in theirhistory for example, the stage of their ru-ination. This historical inconsistency be-comes even more apparent when restora-tion works are carried further by expand-ing simple conservation measures intorestoration of whole sections of the Acrop-olis monuments, in a desire to reverse theirhistory. The form of the building that werecall by means of restoration represents achosen remodeling of the building usingsome of its fortuitously preserved parts.This effort cannot be termed a “return” toa previous historical phase of the building,due, firstly, to the fortuity of the preservedand incorporated remains and, secondly,to the drastic effect that restoration has onthe building itself by tending to negate itshistorical authenticity.

Despite these drawbacks, restoration isconsidered to be a fully acceptable proce-dure when principles based on special ex-perience and international agreements arerespected. Restoration is clearly an histor-ical act, in the sense of being an irre-versible change, which results in an his-torically new image of the building. Thisnew image legitimises the interventiononly when the intervention has adhered tothe form of the original structure and hasworked toward its benefit. The present-day appearance of the Parthenon, as wellas that of the other Acropolis monuments,is to a great extent (completely in the caseof the Athena Nike temple) an image al-ready created by earlier restorers, whichresulted from an historical decision made,in many respects, from the very beginningof the restoration efforts on the Acropolisin September 1834.

Which historical phase to restore?The question of which historical phase ofa building is most important to preserveand should be the subject of anastelosis isa particularly significant yet complex is-sue. The suggested approach in anastelo-sis nowadays is to accept as equally impor-

tant all historical phases of a building. Inpractice, however, such a broad approachproves difficult to follow, since it involvespriorities that may differ totally, depend-ing on the particular circumstances or re-quirements of the monument’s varioushistorical remains. In the case of theParthenon, post-Classical alterations madeto the building through the centuries wererelatively limited. Moreover, the preservedevidence for these alterations is scarce –asituation to which archaeologists and re-storers of the 19th century contributedsignificantly. This historical fact narrowsthe range of present-day alternatives, so

that any contemporary restoration of thebuilding is ultimately constrained to therevitalization of the Classical temple.

In the case of the pronaos, the question,during the 1980s, of which historicalphase to restore was posed differently.Here, the dilemma eventually led to theunusual decision in 1994 not to carve theflutes of the new marble in-fillings on thecolumns. The western flutes of thepronaos columns, as already noted, hadsurvived for 8 centuries, whereas thecolumns themselves, although partly de-faced by the ancient fire, had survived foran additional 14.5 centuries. Specifically,the dilemma amounted to whether the

original, shorter, classical phase with flut-ed columns should be restored or thephase with fluteless columns that was his-torically longer –that is, the late Romanthrough 17th c. phase. For the pronaos, ithad to be decided, therefore, whether theintervention would be guided by histori-cal/archaeological or architectural/aesthet-ic priorities. In the event that the histori-cally longer phase might be designatedthe most important to preserve, the majorquestion would be how to present thisphase in practical terms –that is, whatshould be the form of the in-fillings on thewestern, inner sides of the columns. Asthis option was discussed, various ideaswere advanced, and some experimentswere even conducted, about the best wayto reproduce the fire-damaged appearanceof the drums through artificial destructionof the surfaces of the new marble in-fill-ings, so that they would seem to have suf-fered thermal fracture. Such an approach,however, would have merely produced anartificially contrived imitation –reminis-cent of a stage setting– which attempts toconvey the chance result of an historicalevent.

According to the principles of the VeniceCharter and other international agree-ments governing restoration, such sceno-graphic approaches are discouraged, sincethe newly added, theatrically doctored ma-terial leads to a deceptive representation ofthe structure’s form that may be chrono-logically confusing and which ultimatelypromotes an historical forgery. In otherwords, present-day restorers should notimitate the effects of the physical processof change on the members, nor artificiallyreproduce the history of the building, butinstead reconstruct the building as an ar-chitectural work. An intervention shouldnot present the fortunes of the building’smembers as a three-dimensional narrative.An intervention is optimal only when itfully corresponds with, or only deviates forjustifiable reasons from, the authentic con-struction. In this sense, with respect toevery new addition to the building, no oth-er form is acceptable but the original –aslong as restorers can reconstruct that origi-nal form faithfully.

View of pronaos columns, looking S.Photo L. Lambrinou, 2009

In fact, this last-mentioned principle hasbeen followed closely in the restorationprogrammes already completed on theAcropolis, and in those projects still on-go-ing, with only two documented, probablyunsuccessful exceptions (SW triglyph ofthe Parthenon). In all other cases, architec-tural members have been and continue tobe restored with in-fillings of new marblethat match the missing pieces’ originalmeasurements and form. The originalcarving of a missing piece’s surface is alsoreplicated. This general accordance, om-nipresent from the building’s general lay-out to the smallest ornamental detail, con-tributes in such a complex structure to theharmonious integration of new materialinto the ancient construction, for the pur-pose of enhancing the comprehensibility ofthe building. In-filling with new materialis preceded by the assiduous study of thearchitectural canons and morphology ofthe ancient structure, so as to avoid repro-duction of hypothetical partial forms. Inthe case of the pronaos columns, as theplan of the building is clear and significantfeatures are preserved in situ, it is possibleto recover the form of the east porch pre-cisely as it was in the original construc-tion. The preserved evidence was gathered,researched and described in Korres’ 1989study, so as to provide without doubt the

exact form of the columns and the originalprovenances of their once scattered frag-ments.

The difficulties encountered and the even-tual impasse that arose in addressing thequestion of which form of the Pronaos topreserve led to the 1994 proposal andthus to the making of partly workeddrums a course of action that did not di-rectly address the basic dilemma. Essen-tially, it was proposed to reproduce aphase of the constructional procedureslightly before the final step in the originalprocess, which was the carving of theflutes. This 1994 proposal was certainlynot intended to indicate a lack of knowl-edge or information concerning thecolumns’ orginal form or the extent towhich they had been carved, since it haslong been understood that the columns ofthe pronaos, just as all other the columnsof the Parthenon, had been completedduring the original construction of thebuilding. The possibility for later recon-sideration and perhaps for eventual com-pletion of the flutes in the new in-fillingswas reserved, but postponed to some fu-ture point in time. Pursuant to this agree-ment, the 1994 proposal was finally ac-cepted and ultimately carried out.

A new approachWith the arrival of the new millenniumand the completion of the restoration ofthe pronaos, the obvious aesthetic asym-metry of the restored columns in theParthenon’s east porch has once againbrought to the fore the question of the fi-nal form of the new, western in-fillings.The resulting proposal of 2004-2005 bythe present author called for the carvingof the flutes now to be undertaken usinga mechanical cutter –a course of actionintended to reduce the amount of time re-quired for the operation. The specialisedmechanical cutter to be employed hadpreviously been used successfully for cut-ting the flutes of all the new in-fillings inthe column drums of the Parthenon’snorth colonnade. The 2005 study con-cerning the time required for the carvingof the pronaos flutes described the differ-ent lengths of time needed for cutting theflutes by hand or by machine and also

took into account the necessary time fordismantling and resetting the drums (3years/6 months). As explained in thestudy, mechanical cutting of the flutesdoes not reach the ancient surface not on-ly for reasons of security, but also be-cause the profile of the ancient flutes con-stitutes a section of a pseudo-ellipse,which the circular disk of the mechanicalcutter cannot reproduce. A few millime-tres of marble are left uncut, therefore,with the final carving of the flutes execut-ed by hand. The final finishing of theflutes by hand cannot be replaced by anymechanical process and continues to be abasic, preferable part of the anastelosisprocess.

The restoration of the Acropolis monu-ments, as products of the modern age,have made use of technology from the verybeginning of the work, through all theirstages, wherever feasible and necessary.The mechanical cutting of new membersusing laser technology replaces, in somecases, much of the hand work, which isthus reserved for the final rendering of themembers’ surfaces. In every case, the rea-sons behind the choice of mechanical overmanual carving are not based on anyweakness of traditional techniques, but onan attempt to expedite the works. From aneconomic and technical standpoint, tradi-tional techniques cannot attain either theeconomy of manpower or, especially, timein such extensive works of anastelosis asthose being undertaken on the Acropolis.The inclusion of these works in Europeanfunding programmes which come withclearly defined time frames, makes YSMAaccountable for the time in which the in-terventions are completed.

In a positive step forward, approval for thefull carving of the new marble additions inthe columns of the pronaos –although on-ly to be achieved by hand and in situ– waspassed by KAS in late July, 2009.

Lena LambrinouArchitect-Archaeologist

Parthenon Restoration Project

*Translation by J. R. Leonard

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Detail of 3rd column from N after restora-tion. Still visible are the traces for supportsof ancient fences and Byzantine cuttings.Photo L. Lambrinou, 2009

The school year of 2010-2011 was verycreative for our Department. Completedduring this period were four new produc-tions, which are described in the presentarticle.

Acropolis and RestorationSince architectural heritage is an ines-timable cultural good that must be pre-served and handed on to future genera-tions, it is of major importance to ap-proach it through education. With this inmind, in 2010 the Department of Infor-mation and Education of the Acrop-olis Restoration Service has createda new Teacher’s Pack entitled“Acropolis and Restoration”.

The pack is prepared for educatorsand for pupils, particularly of theSecondary level, who declare specialinterest in the works of restorationbeing carried out at present on theAcropolis, and are interested in theproblems of the monuments and thereasons that have led to theirrestoration. It contains ten educa-tional pamphlets that are dividedinto two groups:

In the first group of pamphlets, the-oretical subjects are presented thatare associated in a general way withthe restoration of ancient monu-ments, particularly those of theAcropolis: the types of restorations,the problems of the monuments and thereasons for the intervention, the principlesof the works of restoration on the Acropo-lis, the method of the interventions on theAcropolis monuments.

Presented analytically in the second groupare the restoration programmes that arecarried out on each individual monumentunder the titles: Parthenon, Propylaia,Erechtheion, Temple of Athena Nike, TheRock, the Walls and the Environment. Aspecial pamphlet is dedicated to proposalsfor the educators. The contents of the Pack

as a whole offer an inter-thematic way ofteaching and can provide a theme to bedeveloped in many lessons of the schoolcurriculum; moreover it can be incorpo-rated in the teaching material of differentgrades. In particular, great possibilities ex-ist for developing the theme in the frame-work of Environmental Education.

All the pamphlets of the Teacher’s Packare triptychs to facilitate their use in theclassroom by smaller groups of pupils. Onone face of the pamphlet the subject is de-

veloped with the necessary informativetext, while on the other side there is plen-tiful photographic material with views ofthe monument before and after restora-tion, accompanied by explanatory cap-tions for easier comprehension of the sub-ject.

The Teacher’s Pack includes also the film“The Works on the Athenian Acropolis”,(duration 60 minutes) comprising 5 the-matic units: The Parthenon, the West sideof the Parthenon, the Erechtheion, thePropylaia and the Temple of Athena Nike.

The film is a valuable audio-visual productfor pupils studying the restoration works,since they can listen to the people who arecarrying out the work talk about whatthey are doing; they can also see details ofthe work being done, which they wouldnot be able to see otherwise.

With the opportunity of this publication,the Department is organising an open dayprogramme on the Acropolis in the au-tumn of 2011, that will familiarise schoolchildren and the general public with the

monuments of the Sacred Rock andwith the restoration works.

www.acropolis-athena.grAnother educational activity com-pleted by the Department of Infor-mation and Education in 2010, is theon-line application “Athena, Goddessof the Acropolis” (www.acropolis-athena.gr). The application was cre-ated in collaboration with the Acrop-olis Museum, thanks to the generousfunding from the Bodosaki Founda-tion, to which special thanks aredue.

Athena, the goddess of wisdom, ofculture and the arts was directly con-nected with the city to which shehad given her name. Her presence asa name, as a tradition and as an artis-tic expression was predominanteverywhere, especially in the most

important sanctuary of the city, theAcropolis, where the goddess was wor-shipped in many different forms and ca-pacities.

The purpose of the on-line application isto familiarise the user with the various na-tures of the divinity. By means of a virtualtour of the Acropolis Museum, the user,following a beam of light, looks for andobserves the exhibits of the goddessAthena that have been chosen.

A number of these reflect the sacred cult

New activities and publications of the Information end Education Department

Teacher’s Pack “Acropolis and Restoration”

statues of the goddess that were oncewithin the temples and of which today notrace remains, such as the clay statuetteresembling the wooden statue of Athena

Polias, the patron goddess of the city, thatwas kept inside the Erechtheion, as wellas the marble statue of Athena Parthenos,a Roman copy of the chryselephantinemasterpiece by Pheidias, that stood with-in the Parthenon.

Included likewise in the application aresome of the most important architecturalsculptures of the Acropolis with themestaken from the goddess's mythology, suchas the impressive statue of Athena in theGigantomachy where she is shown fight-ing with the Giant of earthquakes, Enge-lados, from the pediment of the “ArchaiosNaos” (the Old Temple), as well as therepresentations in relief of Athena fromthe Parthenon frieze and from the parapetof the Athena Nike temple. In this samecategory of architectural sculptures arethe statues of Athena from the two pedi-ments of the Parthenon. The birth of thegoddess was shown in the east pediment,from which her statue has disappearedbut the user can recreate her in his imagi-nation with the help of a virtual recon-struction of the statue. So too, the strug-gle of Athena with Poseidon in the west

pediment, where only part of the statuehas survived. Yet another category of stat-ues that can be seen in the applicationcomprises the various votives-dedications

to the goddess that represent the goddessherself, such as the Athena that wascarved by the famous sculptor Endoios,the little bronze Athena Promachos, god-dess of battle, dedicated by a woman

named Meleso, as well as the famous Pen-sive Athena.

The application includes also a fragmentof a Panathenaic amphora, the vase thatwas presented as a prize to victors in thePanathenaic games, on which there is arepresentation of the goddess Athena, ful-ly armed as a goddess of war. For each ofthese exhibits the user can read a brief de-scription, a relevant myth, informationabout the cult of Athena as well as the rel-evant ancient texts of Pausanias. In addi-tion it is possible to see the exhibit fromclose-up and some of them all around, vir-tually restored.

Three months after the uploading of theon-line application www.acropolis-athena.gr, there have been 3,844 visits, anumber that corresponds to 3,145 indi-vidual visitors. Six hundred of these visi-tors come from 49 foreign countries. It isinteresting that a third (33%) of the vis-its are direct visits. The other sources of“traffic” are the reference websites (62%)and search engines (5%).

The photographs, the artistic design andthe editing of the application were doneby Professor K. Antoniadis and the appli-cation design and development by Y. Kout-soukos.

A Day in the Acropolis Museum withthe Goddess AthenaThe next educational activity of the De-partment combines the on-line search forthe goddess Athena with an actual searchfor the goddess inside the Acropolis Muse-um. The programme has been organisedby the Acropolis Museum and in its con-text a special Family Pack has been creat-ed.The Pack contains a series of gamesthat help the child recognize the goddessAthena from her attributes and search forher in the Museum. The purpose of thePack is to attract families and to facilitatetheir visit inside the Museum. As an intro-duction to the programme “A Day in the

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On-line application “Athena, Goddess of the Acropolis”

Digital reconstruction of the chryselephantine

statue of Athena Parthenos

Acropolis Museum with the GoddessAthena”, a bilingual 3-minute film wasmade by K. Arvanitakis, explaining thecontents of the Family Pack as well as theon-line application (www.acropolis-athena.gr), which everybody can visit af-terwards at home.

The family also receives a specially de-signed childrens’ plan of the Museum andstickers with the representations of thegoddess Athena. In the quest for the god-dess in the Museum, the children can use

as a basis the game “A Day in the Acropo-lis Museum Searching for the GoddessAthena”, which includes cards with infor-mation about the goddess, graphic or digi-tal representations of her and suggestedactivities. Of help also may be the special-ly designed children’s labels that havebeen set next to the chosen exhibits. Eachtime the children recognise a representa-tion of the goddess Athena, they place thecorresponding sticker on the plan whichthey later take home.

The representations of Athena chosen forthis searching game comprise some of theexhibits of the goddess that are includedalso in the on-line application (www.acropolis-athena.gr). Thus, on returning

home, the child can repeat and also con-tinue his/her game with the goddessAthena on the internet.

Another activity the parents can enjoywith their children in the Museum, in thecourse of the programme, is based on thegame “A day in the Acropolis Museumplaying with the Symbols of the GoddessAthena”, which is accompanied by a seriesof magnets with the attributes of the god-dess. First the children learn the goddess’ssymbols, the spear, the shield, the helmet,

the peplos, the owl, the olive tree and theaegis with the goddess's gorgoneion. Theythen place the symbol-magnets on a draw-ing-magnet of Athena. In this way eachchild makes his/her own individual com-position.

The children finish their tour of the Muse-um playing a memory game entitled “Aday in the Acropolis Museum Playing withthe Images of the Goddess Athena”. Thegame includes nine pairs of cards showingAthena’s faces painted on clay vases. Someare painted in the black-figure technique,that is, a black figure on a red ground, andothers in the red-figure technique, with ared figure on a black ground. Some arepainted on a white ground, while in two

other cases, the figures are black but theface of the goddess is painted white, aswas the practice so as to distinguish thefemale from the male figure. The childrensearch for these representations of Athenain the gallery of archaic exhibits, in theeast and west Museum cases and matchthe pairs of cards, exercising their memo-ry and their observation skills!

For a period of around 3 months begin-ning on 16 April 2011, when the pro-gramme began to work, 1,004 familieshave participated. Of these, 821 familiesborrowed the Greek Pack and 67 familiesthe English version. Up to 5 May, whenthe English Pack began to circulate, 160childrens’ maps had been offered withstickers in the English language. The aver-age time spent in the Museum by the vis-iting families was around two hours.

In the context of evaluating this activity, aquestionnaire was drawn up, which theparents filled in when they returned thePack. A total of 189 questionnaires weregathered, 42 from foreign families and therest from Greek families.

Acropolis and EducationFor the Information and Education De-partment, the school year 2010-2011closed with the completion and publica-tion of the book “Acropolis and Educa-tion”, which was made possible with thevery generous funding of the Panayotisand Effie Michelis Foundation, to whichspecial thanks are due. The book has 192pages and it constitutes a guide for ateacher to carry out educational pro-grammes about the Acropolis and the clas-sical antiquity.

The book has two parts. Described in thefirst part are the activities of the Depart-ment as they were developed over the past25 years, in an effort to make knowledgeabout the life and art of antiquity morecompelling and comprehensible to schoolchildren and to educators. Described andanalysed in particular are:

Family Pack. Photo Acropolis Museum Archive

ñThe educational programmes that are or-ganised for school groups.

ñThe seminars conducted for educatorsand pupils on classical greek art and ar-chitecture as well as on the restoration ofclassical monuments.

ñThe educational resources, printed anddigital, that have been published by theDepartment about classical art and archi-tecture, and the restoration works on theAcropolis.

ñ The special symposia for educators aswell as exhibitions of educational mater-ial.

The chapters have been arranged so as tomake it easy for the reader to find and usethe programme or educational materialthat interests him.

The book includes also educationalprogammes that were carried out in theold Acropolis Museum and which cannow be pursued in the new Museum.They have been supplemented with newphotographs of the exhibits and their newdisplay in the Museum. The educationalactivities presented in the first part of thebook constitute the one side of the Muse-um-School collaboration.

Presented in the second part of the bookare a number of chosen projects that werecarried out by educators and pupils of var-ious schools in Greece, with which wehave collaborated from 1991 to the pre-sent. These reports of the educators pre-sent the way in which they used and in-corporated into their teaching the experi-ences and knowledge they gained fromparticipating in the Department’s educa-tional activities. This is a very significantaggregate of rich in ideas teachers’ pro-jects that have already been applied by ed-ucators of all grades and all specialisa-tions. In the course of studying these re-ports, it was decided that their publicationwould be easier for the reader to compre-hend, if they were arranged by subject: ina first level on the basis of the place wherethe programmes took place (applicationsat School, at Special Schools, at Libraries,at other Monuments or Museums); in asecond level on the basis of the teachingunit in which they were carried out(through the lessons in History, AppliedArt, Language, Natural Sciences etc).Since most of the applications can be en-tered in many categories, their classifica-tion is not absolute and it was finally de-

termined according to the subject that waspredominant in each project.

In each of these programmes the way inwhich the educator approached theAcropolis and its monuments is madeclear, always depending on his specialty,his class and the specific aims he had set.Thus the educator who is interested canstudy many different programmes con-cerning the Acropolis and its epoch, thatincorporates ideas, methods and applica-tions created by colleagues with the samebackground, the same possibilities and thesame goals.

Special thanks for her contibution to allthe above, as well as for her assistance toall the activities of the Department are dueto the archaeologist Sylia Paraschou.

Cornelia HadziaslaniArchitect-ArchaeologistHead of the Department

Eirini KaimaraArchaeologist

Asimina LeontiArchaeologist

Information and Education Department

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Cover page of the book “Acropolis & Education”

Celebrating the Panathenaia at school

From July 2010 to date the YSMA has ac-complished restoration works of utmostsignificance, while simultaneously fur-thering activity in education and in pro-moting the work of the Service for theprofessional community and for the gener-al public.

Educational activities In 2010, the YSMA Information andEducation Department carried out variouseducational activities that were attendedby 34,145 people, educators, pupils andthe general public. Specifically, 152 edu-cational programmes were held, in theNew Acropolis Museum, for 3,047 pupils(9-13 years old) with the theme “TheSculpture of the Parthenon”. The MuseumKits of the Department were lent and usedby 11,997 pupils from 240 schools (622classes) of 18 counties throughout Greece.Moreover, 18,100 individuals played theon-line games of the Museum Kits(www.parthenonfrieze.gr/play with thefrieze).The Department held seminars for 1,002people, educators and students to whomeducational material was given. Most ofthe seminars had as theme the“Educational Programmes about theAcropolis and the New Museum”.Likewise during the past year, theDepartment participated in a one-day con-ference on the subject of “The Use of NewTechnology in the Context of EducationalMuseum Activities”, which was held onthe 28th of June, 2010, by the GreekSection of ICOM (International Council ofMuseums). The subject of the talk givenby the Department was: “www.parthenon-frieze.gr: an on-line application about theParthenon Frieze”. Likewise, in the frame-work of the International Conference onthe subject of “Open Access: Research -Education - Public Data Base” that washeld on the 17th of December, 2010, inAthens by the National DocumentationCentre/ National Hellenic ResearchFoundation, in collaboration with the or-ganisation SPARC Europe (ScholarlyPublishing and Academic Resources

Coalition) and the Union of EuropeanResearch Libraries (LIBER), theDepartment participated with a talk on“The Ancient World in Modern Education- Open Educational Content about theAcropolis”.

In 2010 a new educational folder underthe title “Acropolis and Restoration” waspublished. It contains ten educationalpamphlets divided into two groups andthe film “The Works on the AthenianAcropolis”.In addition, in 2010 the on-line applica-tion on the subject “Athena, goddess of theAcropolis” (www.acropolis -athena.gr)was completed. The purpose of the appli-

cation is to familiarise the user with thedifferent aspects of the goddess Athenaand with the Acropolis Museum. The ap-plication was created by the YSMADepartment of Information and Educationin collaboration with the AcropolisMuseum thanks to the generous fundingof the Bodosakis Foundation. Special thanks are due to the archaeologistC. Paraschou for her help to all the educa-tional activities of the Department.

Presentation of the Acropolis worksin a study day at the British MuseumCompletion of the three large restorationprojects (north colonnade of the Parthenon,ceilings of the central building of thePropylaia and the temple of Athena Nike)provided the occasion for a full presenta-tion of the work of the YSMA. On October8, 2010, the British Museum organised astudy day entitled “Restoring the Acropolisof Athens”, at which those in charge of theworks were invited to speak. The GeneralSecretary of the Ministry of Culture andTourism, Dr L. Mendoni, greeted the con-ference in a message. The President of theESMA, Professor Emeritus Ch. Bouras, pre-sented the overall account of the work ofrestoration that had been carried out overthe past 35 years under the scholarly direc-tion of the ESMA. Mrs. M. Ioannidou,Director of the YSMA, spoke about the re-search and technology used in the restora-tion of the Acropolis monuments. Therestoration of specific parts of the monu-ments was presented in detail by the headsof the Sections and the Technical Offices asfollows: Mrs. E. Papakonstantinou, che-mist-engineer, presented the works of sur-face conservation of the Acropolis monu-ments, Mrs. D. Michalopoulou, civil engi-neer, spoke on the restoration of the templeof Athena Nike, Dr Tasos Tanoulas, archi-tect, presented the restoration project of thePropylaia and Mr. N. Toganidis, architect,reported on the Parthenon restoration pro-ject. Mrs. L. Lambinou, YSMA architect,spoke about the past and present interven-tions on the north side of the Parthenon.Finally, Associate Professor and member of

News from the Acropolis

From the presentation of the Acropolis worksat the British Museum.From above: D. Michalopoulou, N. Toganidis,L. Lambrinou

ESMA, Dr F. Mallouchou-Tufano, present-ed the restoration of the Erechtheion.

Publications - Digital activities On the occasion of completing the largerestoration projects, the YSMA circulateda publication with the title “The restora-tion of the monuments of the AthenianAcropolis” in both greek and english.Presented in the book, which was editedby the head of the Documentation Office,Dr E. Lembidaki, is the history of the in-terventions, the principles and methodol-ogy developed by the ESMA and theworks of restoration completed on themonuments. The illustrations, selectedfrom the rich YSMA Archive, and particu-larly the most recent ones, depicting themonuments after restoration, make thepublication a valuable tool for informingthe public. The booklet has been distrib-uted to libraries and educational establish-ments in Greece and abroad.

Another important achievement of theDocumentation Office during the past yearis the updating of the Service's website.The new website (www.ysma.gr) has a

modernised appearance, more attractiveand easy for the visitor to the network,while assuring simultaneously indepen-dence during the process of updating theinformation it contains. Finally, theDocumentation Office designed an origi-nal application of an electronically inter-active tour in the archaeological site of theAcropolis through high-analysis pho-tographs and panoramas (www.acropo-lis-virtualtour.ysma.gr). The visitor tothe website can enjoy excellent pho-tographs of the monuments, in morning

and evening lighting, and details of themonuments that are difficult to discern forthose actually visiting the site. In the com-ing period, the application will be en-riched by explanatory texts to be enteredin the YSMA website.

Distinguished visitors to the Acropo-lis works On the 30th of October 2010 the archaeo-logical site of the Acropolis was visited bya team of reporters from the most impor-tant German media, on the initiative ofthe Hellenic Foundation for Culture ofBerlin with the support of the Ministry ofCulture and Tourism. The occasion of thevisit was the completion of the restorationprogramme of the Acropolis monumentsand the purpose was to promote theHellenic cultural heritage to the Europeanpublic. The journalists were given a tour ofthe Acropolis works by Professor EmeritusCh. Bouras, President of the ESMA, and byMrs. M. Ioannidou, Director of the YSMA,and thus had the opportunity to be in-formed about the restoration being carriedout on the Acropolis.The visit was consid-ered particularly successful and the re-ports that appeared in the German pressshortly afterwards –at a particularly diffi-cult conjuncture for Greece– showed amodern and effective service performingan extremely demanding work of restora-tion.

On March 24, 2011, Queen Sophia ofSpain visited the archaeological site andunveiled the marble stele that was in-stalled by the Beule Gate. The stele wasconstructed by the marble technicians ofthe Propylaia project and it copies the textof King Peter V of Aragon who, in the14th century, called the Castle of Athensthe “most valuable jewel in the world”.Queen Sophia was received by the GeneralSecretary of the Ministry of Culture andTourism, Dr L. Mendoni, the President ofthe ESMA, Prof. C. Bouras, the Director ofYSMA, Mrs. M. Ioannidou and the Headof the 1st Ephorate of Prehistoric andClassical Antiquities, Dr S. Samartzidou.

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Guided tour of the British Museum by Dr I. Jenkins for the research personnel of the YSMA. Atthe left is Professor Ch. Bouras, president of the ESMA.

Publication entitled «The restoration of themonuments of the Athenian Acropolis».Photo T. Souvlakis, 2010

Finally, on July 9, 2011, the Acropoliswas visited by the Minister of Culture andTourism, P. Geroulanos, accompanied bythe General Secretary of the Ministry, Dr

L. Mendoni. The occasion of the visit wasthe dismantling of the corner pedimentalsima with the pseudo-spout lion-headfrom the northwest corner of theParthenon, in the context of the pro-gramme for restoring the west side of themonument. The architectural member,with the impressive details of its construc-tion that are preserved, elicited the won-der of all those present. Particularly posi-tive were the comments on the coordina-tion and skill with which it was disman-tled.

Guided toursAs each year, this year too the scholarlyand technical personnel of the YSMAguided visitors who had particular inter-est in the Acropolis restoration works.Here we report on two out of the many,mainly because of their symbolic content. On September 30, 2010 the YSMADirector, Mrs. M. Ioannidou, guided themembers of the Association of the Friendsof Acropolis around the restored monu-ments. This was, in fact, the second guid-ed tour for the Friends in 2010, and theoccasion was the completion of the

restoration project of the temple of AthenaNike. This extra tour was arranged in or-der to present the completed restorationprogramme of the YSMA to the membersof the Association, who have for years fol-lowed and supported the Acropolis works. In addition, on February 18, 2011, thepupils of the Centre for the Education andRehabilitation of the Blind were guidedthrough the works of restoration by thepresent writer and by the marble techni-cians Mr. P. Georgopoulos and Mr. S.Aggelopoulos. The pupils, accompaniedby their teachers, had the opportunity totouch the monuments and to understandthe basic meanings of architecture and an-cient construction that they had been pre-viously taught in school. They were alsoinformed generally about the works ofrestoration, the principles and methodsapplied, and about the changes made bythe work in the appearance of the monu-ments. In their visit to the workshops, the

pupils responded with interest and enthu-siasm to the presentation of the cuttingtools and the techniques of marble work-ing.

Lectures and publications about theAcropolisDuring the past year, those responsible forthe works played an active part in the

scholarly dialogue on the monuments andtheir restoration, with publications, lec-tures and reports at conferences. In addi-tion to the conference at the BritishMuseum described above, especially note-worthy is the lecture given by thePresident of the ESMA, Professor EmeritusCh. Bouras, on the subject of “The di-achronic values of the monuments of theAthenian Acropolis and the efforts to pre-serve it”. The lecture was given on May16, 2011, at the University of Cyprus, inthe context of a cycle of lectures by distin-guished personalities in memory of D.Levendis.

On March 14, 2011, the Director of theYSMA, Mrs. M. Ioannidou spoke at anevent entitled “Restoration on the SacredRock of the Acropolis” that was organisedin Kalamata by the Bougas School and theUnion of Educators of the School ofHumanities and Cultural Studies of the

University of the Peloponnese. The subjectof her talk was the work of restoration onthe Acropolis. Participating in the sameevent was the head of the YSMA Electro-mechanical Team, Mr. S. Oikonomopoulos,mechanical and electrical engineer, whospoke about the special electro-mechani-cal equipment used for working, mendingand moving architectural members on the

Visit of H. M. Queen Sophia of Spain to theAcropolis. At the left M. Ioannidou, Directorof the YSMA, and right L. Mendoni, GeneralSecretary of the Ministry of Culture andTourism. Photo T. Souvlakis, 2011

H.M. Queen Sophia of Spain with the work team at the Parthenon worksite. At the right is theGeneral Secretary of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, L. Mendoni. Photo T. Souvlakis, 2011

Acropolis rock. Mrs. Ioannidou went alsoto New York on a formal invitation by theHellenic American Technical Society(HATS), where she gave two lecturesabout the restoration of the Acropolismonuments. The first was given on May 9,2011, in the hall of the Church of theHoly Trinity and the second, on May 13,2011, in the Center for Architec-ture ofthe American Institute of Architecture(AIA). The response of the public waswarm, indicating once again the interestof the international commu-nity in the Acropolis works.

Mrs. V. Manidaki, architect,gave a report on “The re-placement of sculptured ar-chitectural members on theAcropolis monuments. Casts,copies and authentic mem-bers” in the one-day work-shop organised by the Re-search Society for the Promo-tion of Scientific Restorationof Monuments (ETEPAM)under the title “Techniquesof anastelosis, materials andproblems of application”(Thessalonike, 20 November2010).Significant also were the re-ports given by the SurfaceConservation Section. G. Frantzi, K.Frantzikinaki, A, Panou, E.Papakonstantinou and A. Tsimereki pre-sented a poster with the title “TheAcropolis monuments: surface conserva-tion projects and general conservation ac-tivities in the last few years” at theInternational conference “Conservationand the Eastern Mediterranean, Institutefor Conservation and Artistic Works(IIC)” held in Constantinople, 20-24 Sep-tember 2010. At the same conference, G.Frantzi, D. Garbis, E. Papakonstantinouand A. Karagouni presented a report enti-tled “Biodeterioration control at theAthens Acropolis monuments: strategyand complications”. The section took partlikewise in the International Symposium

“Works of art and conservation science to-day” (Thessalonike, 26-28 November2010) with a poster presented by G.Frantzi, E. Frangiadaki, N. Maridaki, Ch.Laskaridis and E. Papakonstantinou underthe title “The foundation of theArrephorion in Acropolis of Athens: decayand preservation state”. Finally, D.Garbis, S. Papida, E. Papakonstantinouand A. Karagouni gave a report on the sub-ject of “Monitoring the biodeterioration onthe Acropolis monuments: strategy and

limitations” in the yearly one-day work-shop of the Panhellenic Association ofConservators of Antiquities held at theAcropolis Museum on December 1, 2010.

Concerning the personnelLast year saw the departure on retirementof some who had taken part in the workfor the longest time. On November 30,2010 the head of the restoration of thePropylaia, Dr T. Tanoulas retired. He hasdevoted 34 years of work to theArchaeological Service, 24 of them to thePropylaia, which he had also studied forhis doctoral thesis. Having made a greatmany studies and overseen their applica-tion to the monument, T. Tanoulas hasbound his name inseparably with the

Propylaia. Likewise, the head of theSurface Conservation Section, Mrs. E.Papakonstantinou, an especially activemember of the scholarly personnel with along career, completed her service withthe YSMA on November 30, 2010. Despitetheir retirement, however, both remainedclose to the works, always available toshare their knowledge and their experi-ence with the newer members of the staff. Special mention should be made of the de-parture of the marble technician Mr. G.

Regos, who retired onAugust 31, 2010. Born andraised in the island of Tenosand with a wealth of experi-ence in marble working, hetook part in the Acropolisworks for 20 years, for thelast of which he was head ofthe Propylaia team. OnNovember 1, 2010, the YS-MA photographer, S.Mavromatis retired as well.His lens immortalised anddisplayed not only the mon-uments themselves, but thelaborious process of theirrestoration.

The renewal of the YSMApersonnel, finally, must bementioned. This was ac-

hieved either by bringing in personnelfrom other services, or through new re-cruitments, with funding from theEuropean Union. It is believed that an in-creased human element in combinationwith the experience and technical knowl-edge that has been gained in the course ofthe past years, will surely contribute tothe successful completion of the worksthat have been programmed for the nextthree years.

Evi PetropoulouArchaeologist

Documentation Office

39

Visit by the Minister of Culture and Tourism, P. Geroulanos, to theParthenon. Photo T. Souvlakis, 2011

News Letter of the AcropolisRestoration Service of the HellenicMinistry of Culture and Tourism

Editor:Acropolis Restoration Service

Editing and Production:E. Petropoulou

Layout:Intraway LTD

English Translation:M. Caskey, Ph.D.

The restoration and conservation worksof the Acropolis Monuments as well asthe present issue are jointly financed bythe European Union

The Acropolis Restoration Service10 Polygnotou StreetGR-10555 AthensTel/fax: (+30)210 3243 427/3251 620e-mail: ysma@culture.grwww.ysma.gr

©YSMA, 2011Dismantling the second from the west metope of the Parthenon north entablature.Photo V. Eleftheriou, 2011

Preparations for dismantling a cornice block from the north entablature of the Parthenon.Photo V. Eleftheriou, 2011