His fame has spread worldwide, its prestige is internationally enforced

Three years today for the Acropolis Museum with its visitors touching the 5 millions, his fame to have spread throughout the world and his prestige to be enforced internationally.

An anniversary that is justifiably celebrated with pride in this particularly critical period for the country, let alone the museum, even in this last year it operated with its own revenue without burdening the state budget. "Some people think that culture and museums are unnecessary luxuries in difficult times. We experienced other things", said the president of the Acropolis Museum at noon, professor Mr. Dimitris Pandermalis. "We saw ordinary people being moved by their walk through the halls of the museum and taking a deep breath escaping from the gray everyday life. Visitors watching next to the burnt statues of the Persian disaster, the masterpieces born soon after, they automatically draw the parallel with the possibilities of the day after today's financial crisis", he added.

With the halls glowing with Attic light and the luster of marble statues, especially for today and to the sounds of live classical music, the museum welcomes the public _ already increased from the previous month _ with changes, improvements, welding of fragments to the sculptures that thus take on a more complete form but also with the exposure of the two metopes that were taken down from the Parthenon to save them from decay.

"The Acropolis Museum has played a leading role these years in an international dialogue with the other museums of the world and abolished stereotypes", said the acting Minister of Culture Mrs. Tatiana Karapanagiotis on the occasion of the anniversary. And as for the Parthenon Sculptures that are in the British Museum: "I wish they would come! But even if they don't come back, we already have a miracle here. An amazing museum, magical and mostly ours!», he added. Εχοντας παρακολουθήσει άλλωστε τη γέννησή του από την περίοδο των ανασκαφών ακόμη, after recording with her lens the whole process step by step and from the beginning to the end Mrs. Karapanagioti could feel it like her home.

Regarding her tenure at the Ministry of Culture, the minister had an interesting experience to report: "I understood that the public works, at least what I got to know at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs", he said. "When you are outside you can criticize easily, but from the inside you realize the difficulty of things. So I will be more lenient from now on". The promotion of NSRF projects and the opening hours of museums and archaeological sites were her priorities, which were served flawlessly despite the shortness of her presence in the ministry. In the context of her responsibilities, she also referred the issue of the old Acropolis museum (on the rock) to the joint body of KAS and KSNM with the question of its preservation or demolition.

However, a "funny" incident prevented her and the general secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (until that moment) Mrs. Lina Mendoni, το όνομα της οποίας αναφέρεται στην επόμενη κυβέρνηση να φθάσουν στην ώρα τους καθώς ο φύλακας από την είσοδο της οδού Μακρυγιάννη δεν τις αναγνώρισε και δεν επέτρεψε να περάσουν!

Νέες δράσεις ανήγγειλε εξάλλου ο κ. Παντερμαλής με πρώτη την επέκταση του καφενείου του ισογείου, όπου ήμασταν καθισμένοι, στον εξωτερικό χώρο πάνω από την ανασκαφή. Μουσείο της ανασκαφής πρόκειται να δημιουργηθεί από κάτω ακριβώς, όπου θα εκτεθούν περί τα 1500 ευρήματα, που βρίσκονται τώρα στις αποθήκες. As for the highlighting of the excavation itself, which is about 3 acres… beware of the Bank of Greece that "cut" the museum's reserve. Specifically, as said by Mr. Pandermal from the 3,7 million. only euros remained 900.000, so the sponsor is now being sought to help carry out the project, for which one year is required anyway.

The action on the theme of light in antiquity is interesting, which will start on 27 June. Triggered by the golden lamp that lit the eternal light at the springs in Erechtheion, iconic exhibits of the museum, such as the bronze trireme – lamp, which was also found in Erechtheion will be marked in their showcases while a special brochure will be distributed at the entrance.

Τον Ιούλιο θα παρουσιασθεί εξάλλου η μικρή έκθεση για το χρώμα που διατηρείται ακόμη στα αρχαϊκά γλυπτά του μουσείου βάσει έρευνας, η οποία βρίσκεται σε εξέλιξη. Η Πεπλοφόρος Κόρη, a mold of which is colored with the colors resulting from this study, will be the proposal of the scientists of the Acropolis Museum on the subject. "So far the coloring of the Daughter has changed three times", characteristically said Mr. Pandermalis also assuring that the final result will have significant deviations from the painted archaic sculptures, presented by German scientists a few years ago.

Source : tovima.gr

The contract for the assignment of the project study was signed

The ancient theater of Sparta is on the road to restoration after signing the contract for the assignment of the study of the project. The architectural impression, the documentation of the elements of the theater and the proposals for its maintenance and ultimately for its restoration will be included in the study, which will be implemented through a donation amount 111.000 euros from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.

This is an initiative of "Diazoma", in whose offices the contract was signed by its president Mr. Stavros Beno and the studio architect – engineer Mr. William Orestides, presence of Mr. Manoli Corret, professor of the National Technical University of Athens.

The study includes the architectural impressions of the monument, the recording of his pathology, archive research and the collection of photographic material and other evidence for the excavation research, the recording and investigation of scattered architectural members and finally the proposals for the restoration and promotion of the theater.

It should be noted that the Roman theater of Sparta is one of the largest theaters of ancient Greece occupying approx 14.000 T. μ. on the citadel of Sparta. In ancient times it is considered that he could host about them 16.000 spectators, but today only a part of it is visible as it has not been fully excavated.

The overall width of the theater is 114 meters and its cavity was divided into two diazomes (theater and amphitheater). The main theater had nine stands with 30 rows of bearings while the amphitheater had 16 with 20 bearing rows. In fact, above the amphitheater and around it, a gallery had been built so that the spectators could take refuge there in case of rain. As for the stage, it was originally wooden and mobile (was transported on wheels) but later it was made permanent of stone. The eastern wall of the hollow is also of particular interest, on the white marble on which the names of the city's officials were written on an annual basis, thus forming a "stone" record of Sparta.

The theater was abandoned around 4 AD. X. century while in the Middle Ages its hollow was covered by houses, without missing from this monument, the removal of stones in order to be used for newer constructions.

Source : tovima.gr