[ad_1]
The Ministry of Culture gives all the information about the new routes for the disabled to the Acropolis and Manolis Korres solves all doubts.
According to the relevant announcement of the ministry, “the improvement of the visitability of the monuments of the Holy Rock of the Acropolis is a priority for the Ministry of Culture and Sports. With the works to improve the services provided at the Acropolis, the Sacred Rock becomes, for the first time, completely accessible not only for the disabled, but also for citizens with mobility or other health problems. When completed and delivered on December 3, 2020, along with the new, safe, state-of-the-art slope lift, the experience of visiting the Acropolis will be completely different.
In order to restore the truth about disabled routes work, the following is clarified:
The road paving work is not treated as a simple maintenance of the existing network, which was built at least fifty years ago with the constructive and scientific assumptions of that time. It is part of the study for the restoration of the lands of the ancient sanctuary of the academic and president of the Committee for the Conservation of Monuments of the Acropolis Mr. Manolis Korre, the architect with the most complete knowledge of all the monuments of the Holy Rock. The configurations, horizontally and in height, follow the archaeological data, restoring the ancient carvings on Panathinaion Street. The visitor will have for the first time the image that the ancient Athenians had. The Panathinaikos road, which starts from the Propylaea and reaches the temple of Rome and Augustus, was again paved with concrete in 1978 and paved with the same material several times since then to repair the galloping wear and tear. The relevant discussion on the routes of people with mobility difficulties had started at least in mid-2018, without any proposal.
materials
From May 19, 2020, when the KAS unanimously issued its opinion on the implementation of the relevant study, until last July, a thorough investigation was carried out to determine suitable modern materials, both in terms of composition and of appearance. During the evaluation of the in situ tests of materials by the Committee for the Conservation of Monuments of the Acropolis (ESMA), some were rejected due to their durability and others due to their appearance. This concrete with a cement content of 12% was selected as aesthetically acceptable. The end result will be an artificial stone, corresponding to the materials used to complete the monuments. It is noted that in the Acropolis the systematic work of maintenance and restoration of monuments is carried out, which requires the transport of materials and marbles up to 10 tons, with heavy vehicles. Therefore, the tracks must be made of high-strength material that provides stability. ESMA, taking into account the data, decided to implement this new material, but only in the existing network (which was already concrete) with some necessary modifications for the integration of the project in future needs. One of them is the widening of the route to the east of the Propylaea, so that it can serve the passage of millions of visitors, creating two directions of entry and exit, which will decongest traffic, and allow the visitor to have better supervision of the Propylaea . At the same time, ESMA decided that the Acropolis Monument Conservation Service continue the investigation for the design and definition of materials for the rest of the study areas, such as the observation platforms of the monuments, where the strength requirements are lower. . This investigation is ongoing.
Security for the monument and visitors
The new flooring provides a smooth, non-slip surface, completely safe for visitors. There have been many accidents in the past due to the slope and slippery terrain. In addition, it aims to protect the rock itself and the archaeological remains. Prior to laying, a detailed three-dimensional and photogrammetric impression preceded all the parts of the rock to be covered, so that its complete documentation is available. The use of a less durable material would require frequent maintenance, which as a process would load the monument. The intervention applied in the construction of the routes is completely reversible. A special film is inserted between the new material and the substrate (rock). The incisions in the joints, in essence, allow the total or partial removal of the joint. It should be noted that the project is still ongoing today. Therefore, the image is a construction site and not a final one. Finishing, coating of joints and modeling of end surfaces are required.
The Acropolis improvement works are being carried out with the kind sponsorship and cooperation of the Onassis Public Benefit Foundation.
What the Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni says
Lina Mendoni in a statement to “K” answered what exactly is happening with the new routes that are being prepared in the Acropolis to facilitate access for the disabled, the elderly and citizens facing health problems.
As he said: “We are in an era in which experts seem to have challenges. Doctors were challenged. The most important architects, engineers and archaeologists, who are part of the Committee for the Conservation of the Monuments of the Acropolis, are now in dispute. , with prominent academic professor Manolis Korre, who, arguably, is the absolute connoisseur of the Acropolis and monuments. The 17 members of the Central Archaeological Council, the executives of the Acropolis Monument Conservation Service, whose restoration work never has been questioned, as well as the services of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, the Directorate of Restoration of Ancient Monuments and the Directorate of Prehistory. and the Antiquities Ephorate of the City of Athens “.
Read in detail the position of the Minister of Culture in “K”
Manolis Korres gives all the answers
The new pavements of the Acropolis are being replaced by the pavements until now, which had the same composition, that is, a suitable mixture of sand and cement gravel, with similar shades. Unfortunately, these surfaces had worn down with age, to the point that continuing to maintain them with local patches is a completely inappropriate half meter. These old paving stones were made in 1976 on the basis of plans and under the supervision of the late Giannis Travlos and had as their main feature the use of ash cement and the relatively rough surface treatment. The project was one of the first to be carried out when, after the fall of the Dictatorship, the Ministry of Culture (then Minister Professor Konstantinos Trypanis) inaugurated (May 1975) the long-term program for the maintenance and restoration of the monuments of the Acropolis, commissioning the design and supervision of an interdisciplinary committee of experts (Committee for the Conservation of the Monuments of the Acropolis, hereinafter ESMA), composed of I. Miliadis, G. Donta, C. Boura, I. Travlos, S. Angelidis , T. Skoulikidis, etc.
Giannis Travlos, offered his knowledge in archaeological topography and his experience as a renowned restorer. He himself preferred concrete as Pikionis had done in similar works, with the difference that the pavement of the Acropolis could not contain the gratuitous use of new or old marbles. The ancient marbles scattered randomly on Panathinaion Street, the main visitor hub, from the Propylaea to the Parthenon, had to be moved for maintenance and the paved road because it was already slippery and inaccessible, a problem that is constantly deteriorating due to the number of visitors. The incidences of slip and fall of visitors until 1976 were numerous and it is no coincidence that there was a stretcher at hand within the Propylaea, well visible on the north side of the ascent.
In recent years, the wear of the existing pavement has been so great that accidents are repeated as in the old days. Thus, at the initiative of the direction of the Ministry, the ESMA and the Service for the Conservation of Monuments of the Acropolis, elaborated some first proposals of the Archaeological Ephorate of the Acropolis and arrived at what is being done today, as a continuation of the ancient work of I. Travlos, of technology for an even better result. The issue of the exact demarcation of the layers, so as not to cover parts of the rock with significant archaeological remains, but very indistinguishable from small monuments or some buildings, difficult as in the Travlos years, was approached from archaeological research with archaeologists and Service Architects, with Manolis Korre / signer as main coordinator. At the current stage, our program is limited to the most urgent, the main road, and an auxiliary one, necessary for the connection of the center with the new lift for people with mobility problems.
This work is conceived as part of a comprehensive plan for the restoration of ancient sites, which will greatly improve the viewing conditions of monuments (based on the reference system taken into account by those who designed them), but it will be equally valuable and safe. against the damage of the foundations that are still exposed to most of the open dunes, mainly from the Great Excavation (1885-1891). With these projects, whose design and execution are subject to international principles for contractual monuments that are already incorporated into the legislation of many countries as well as ours, the situation will improve. For older people, like me, such works, despite their scientific correctness and social utility, also involve losses, mainly of an emotional nature: in this case, something of the old romantic image that I will always keep in my memory (with feelings found). . But the main thing that is required in any case to take responsibility is the balance of profit and loss (which would be ungrateful not to accept, when the benefits are much greater). With this brief report, I believe that it responds to concerns that I believe due to lack of information were expressed by our sensitive fellow citizens.
