In Athens, a part of the Acropolis will be restored again

Athens - The Greek Supreme Council for Archaeology (KAS) today gave approval for the restoration of the western side of the Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis to commence at the beginning of next year. This was reported today by the AFP agency, citing Greek archaeologists.
    The work, which will require scaffolding, is scheduled to last for three years.
    It will mainly focus on the western tympanum, which was heavily damaged during the fighting in the Greek uprising against Ottoman rule in 1821, when the façade was struck by approximately 700 shots according to architect Manolis Korres.
    The western side, which is the most famous, has also suffered from moisture, which is three times higher here than on the other façades due to its position relative to the sun and earthquakes in 1981 and 1999.
    KAS has decided to remove four relief-decorated panels, known as metopes, from the western side, two more from the northwest corner, and one from the southwest. This metope depicts a battle between centaurs and Lapiths and is attributed to Myron, the famous Discobolus.
    These metopes will be relocated to the new Acropolis Museum, which is set to open this autumn. They will be replaced by copies on the Parthenon.
    The metope called the Annunciation was left untouched by the early Christians, as they regarded it as a depiction of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary. However, other sculptures were significantly damaged before the temple was converted into a Christian church.
    Alexandros Mantis, the director of the Athenian Acropolis, stated last spring that these original sculptures must be relocated to prevent them from being destroyed by polluted environmental conditions.
    Greek restorers have already dismantled numerous statues and sculptures over the past 30 years, including the famous caryatids in 1979, which were replaced by copies.