phart

What's the story at the Acropolis? I hear it's a renovation mess. Has anyone been there recently who can give us the scoop? Is it worth seeing given the cranes etc.?
Thanks
Pat

Eloise

Have a look at this Web site:

http://www.culture.gr/2/21/215/21502/e21509.html

If the ministry says the new Acropolis Museum will be completed in late 2006, I would not count on it being completed before late 2016. Every time the workers find a potsherd, all work stops until the archeologists decide whether the potsherd has to stay in situ and the museum built around it or whether the potsherd can be removed from where it was found.

The new Acropolis Museum was supposed to be open in time for the Olympics in Greece...

If you look further into the site than I did, you might see how much the construction is restricting access to the principal Acropolis monuments.

yipper

Hi,
The Parthenon is always under construction. Go see it. It is spetactular. FYI the Acropolis is the hill the Partenon is built upon.

ParadiseLost

In 1975 I was 21 and living in Athens, so I remember when they started the renovation.
I'm 51 now and they are *saying* another 20yrs.
But I doubt it will be finished in my lifetime .
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/...503481,00.html
Regards, Walter

Intrepid1

In 1986 when we first visited, there was a crane in the middle of the place and, I suspect, not much has changed.

polly229

All of Greece is a "renovation mess", I suspect. There was scaffolding and maybe a crane around a lot of the major sites - many still in excavation, of course. And both the Parthenon and the Propylaea in particular are undergoing extensive work. I suspect they always will be. By the time the current work is done, they'll have to move onto something else and renovate the renovations. (As is happening at Knossos.)

So what's your choice? Skip one of the most famous and fascinating antiquities in the world? Even if you plan to go back in a year or three, there's no guarantee of much improvement. (And even if you plan to go back, something might happen to prevent it and you might miss it altogether.) I was in Venice a couple of years ago, in London a couple of times in the last couple of years and I doubt I'd recognize either without a skyline dotted by cranes. This is old stuff and it's suffering the ravages of time. We should just be thankful that these things are important enough that people are trying to take care of them and save what remains after centuries of neglect and abuse.

Is the Acropolis worth seeing? You bet. And at least you're prepared mentally for some some scaffolding and a crane (I only recall one). You might even find it interesting to see what they're doing. My husband and I watched a worker prepping a stone for making a mold of the missing portion, he overheard our comments and explained the process in a bit more depth as he worked. I thought of that as sort of an "extra". The work didn't really restrict our access - I'm not sure people have been allowed into the Parthenon anyway (I know not 40 years ago and I suspect not since, either).

Not sure when you're going, but I was there in late May and even out of peak season, I found the Acropolis full of people. We're not morning people - particularly after eating dinner at 10 or 11 PM - so we didn't get there till about noon and left around 3. I have increasing skepticism about the guide books that say "get there early" to miss the crowds. Everybody reads the same books, so if you arrive when the site opens, you might have half an hour before it starts to get crowded. About the time we were leaving around 3PM, things were really thinning out and certainly most of the gigantic tours had left. If I had it to do over again, I'd have gone to a museum in the morning (most close about 2 or 3PM in May) and gone to the Acropolis from 3 to 6.

chicagomar

Hello, I just got back from Greece this evening and this morning I visited the Acropolis. Although there is construction, you were still able to get close to many of the structures which did not have construction covering all sides. There were still plenty of tourists and I arrived there at 830 am. There is also a museum which your Acropolis ticket will cover. The tickets to see everything costs 12 Euros for adults and 6 Euros for students. I only had 2 hours to see it, but it was worth it and I took pictures that I never thought in my life I would ever have the opportunity to take! Have fun!

m_kingdom2

I'm afraid that you sound so utterly souless. The trouble with certain American tourists is that they'd like everything brand new, in perfect condition, and with "culture" and "history". Battered about, shabby chic things are very much in vogue now. Even most collections now undergo vintage treatments so that you're buying a piece e.g.a t-shirt which has a pseudo history, and past life before you take it off of the rail.

Gretchen

Well, just to add to the time it has been under "renovation", I visited in 1963 and the parthenon was being reconstructed.

brotherleelove2004

I was there 5 weeks ago. Yes it's still undergoing renovation, yes, there are cranes, scaffolding and other large machines around, and YES it's worth seeing no matter what. It's an amazing structure. You have to see it to appreciate what once must have been a spectacular contribution to art and architecture. The view from the top of the Acropolis ain't bad either!!

Heimdall

I've visited the Parthenon three times in the last ten years (most recently last month), and, surprise, each time it was under renovation. Since it took over 2,000 years to reach the state it is in, I don't think the Greeks are in any hurry to finish the project now. In fact, there have been botched attempts at renovation in the past which left it in worse condition than before, so best to go slowly and get it right.

The cranes and scaffolding will still be there when we are all gone, so there is no point in waiting. Go there and enjoy it.