The 10 year project to restore the Temple of Athena Nike on the Acropolis was unveiled this week following the removal of scaffolding
The slender marble building was completely dismantled for repairs – the third time it has been subject to major restoration work.
We have used the latest technology following successful experimentation with stress and aging.
The temple underwent a major restoration 1935 which was designed to fix the mistakes of the first restoration in the 1830s.
“We have used the latest technology following successful experimentation with stress and aging,” project head Dionysia Michalopoulou said at the official unveiling on Tuesday.
“The choice and use of materials was the best possible; they will not corrode.”
The 1935 restoration involved extensive use of concrete and iron joints to hold the marble blocks together.
When the iron rusted, the marble cracked, threatening the temple’s long-term survival.
This time, the iron was swapped for titanium – a metal as strong as steel but much more resistant to corrosion.
“This third restoration was dictated by extensive damage and structural problems, both in the foundations and the upper structure,” said Michalopoulou, a civil engineer.
Starting in 2000, workers took down 315 marble sections weighing up to 2.5 tons, laying bare a concrete foundation slab that was replaced by a stainless steel grid.
Crews replaced the concrete additions with sections of new marble from ancient quarry sites – whose brilliant white contrasts with the old stone’s patina in places like the walls and columns to make clear they are modern additions.
Every block was returned to the original position selected by the temple’s ancient architects.
Athena Nike is one of the three standing Acropolis temples, along with the Parthenon and the Erechtheion.
A new round of restoration work will commence in October on the western side of the Parthenon and Propylaea.
Source: ANA, AP