Acropolis gateway restoration work completed

(PhotoD)

Workers have removed scaffolding from the monumental gateway at the entrance to the Athens Acropolis after completing a nine-year restoration project, the Greek culture ministry said Monday.

The 6.5 billion-euro (9.3 billion-dollar) project aimed to remove metal pins used in the early 19th century restoration of the Propylaea gates which were oxidising the marble structure, the ministry said.

During the work, 600 tonnes of blocks were dismantled and reassembled, and part of an ancient roof was rebuilt using marble beams.

Restoration teams also installed Ionic capitals - copies of ancient originals - on top of two columns that visitors pass as they enter the site.

Greece launched a huge restoration and conservation scheme for the Acropolis in 1975, and two other projects are nearing completion.

Work to restore the north colonnade of the Parthenon is due to be finished early next year, while the rebuilding of the temple of Athena Nike is scheduled for completion by the summer, restoration service director Maria Ioannidou told AFP.

The buildings which dominate the Acropolis - including the Parthenon, the Erechtheion, the Propylaea and the temple of Athena Nike - were built in the fifth century BC, during the golden age of Athenian democracy.