If you’ve traveled to Athens, you’ve probably spent some time visiting its most popular tourist attraction, the Acropolis. The Parthenon, atop a monumental hill, is home to an ancient temple dedicated to the goddess Athena Parthenos, from whom the city takes its name. But no matter how much time you spent among the ruins of the Parthenon, if your visit happened to take place within the past 200 years, you may now wonder if you really saw the Parthenon. That’s because the scaffolding that partially obscured the west façade for the past 20 years has only recently been removed, resulting in a purer visual condition found in the building. Clips collected above.
The event attracted so much media attention that Greece’s Culture Minister Linda Mendoni declared that for the first time in almost two centuries, the Parthenon’s exterior was completely free of footholds. Originally built in the 5th century BC, it has suffered from severe wear and tear during most of that period and requires intensive and near-regular maintenance.
The influx of tourists certainly doesn’t help. An estimated 4.5 million people will visit the Acropolis in 2024. These are the kind of numbers that give credence to the recent diagnosis of global “overtourism.” The Greek government’s countermeasures include a cap on the number of visitors per day of 20,000, which will take effect in 2023, and the requirement to reserve timed admission slots.
If you want to see the Parthenon in person, completely scaffold-free, it’s best to book your slot as soon as possible. Further conservation work is expected to begin in November, albeit a temporary infrastructure designed to be “lighter and aesthetically much closer to the logic of a monument,” as Mendoni described it. But don’t worry if you miss that period. That work will only last until the beginning of next summer, and once completed, “the Parthenon will also be completely freed from this scaffolding and people will be able to see it for really free.” Not that they will be able to see it. for Free: General admission to the Acropolis still costs 30 euros (approximately $35 USD) during peak summer season. Athena was not the goddess of wealth, but of wisdom, war, and handicrafts, but it is clearly within her power to set prices accordingly.
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Based in Seoul, Colin Mbemust write and broadcastIt’s about cities, languages ​​and cultures. His projects include the Substack newsletter books about cities and a book Stateless City: A Stroll Through Los Angeles in the 21st Century. Follow him on the social network formerly known as Twitter. @Colinbemust.
Source: Open Culture – www.openculture.com
