The restoration of classical monuments in modern Greece: historic precedents, modern trends, peculiarities

REFERENCES

• For the relationship between the modern Greek identity and the ancient Greek patrimony, see: Skopetea, E. To protipo vasileio kai I Megali Idea (1830-1880). Polytypo editions, Athens (1988); Hamilakis, Y and Yalouri, E. Antiquities as symbolic capital in modern Greek society. Antiquity 70 (1996) 117–129.
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• For the first period of restoration of monuments in Greece, see: Mallouchou-Tufano, F. The restoration of ancient monuments in Greece (1834-1939). The work of For the dominant view in 19th century Greece of the medieval monuments, see: Polites, A. Romantika chronia, ideologies ki nootropies stin Ellada tou 1830-1880. Etaireia Meletis Neou Ellinismou, Athens (1993). For the formation of a national historiography and the incorporation of Byzantium within Greek history, see: Demaras, A. Konstantinos Paparregopoulos. MIET, Athens (1986).
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• Mallouchou-Tufano, F. The history of interventions of the Acropolis. In: R. Economakis (ed.) Acropolis Restoration, the CCAM Interventions. Academy Editions, London (1994) 68–85.
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• Especially influenced by the technique and the spirit of Balanos' interventions on the Acropolis have been the anastelosis of two columns of the temple of Hera in Olympia by the German Archaeological Institute of Athens in 1905, and the anastelosis of the tholos (round temple) at the sanctuary of Athena at Marmaria in Delphi in 1938 by the French School of Athens. See respectively: Schmidt, H. Wiederaufbau. Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart (1993) 93–95; and Demangel, R. and Ducoux, H. l'anastylose de la Tholos de Marmaria'. BCH 62 (1938) 370–385.
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• The interventions on ancient monuments of the Dodecanese islands during the Italian occupation (from 1912 to 1948) were influenced by works on the Acropolis, particularly with concern to the technique of inserting heavy metal reinforcements in the ancient architectural members. This is especially notable in the anastelosis of the colonnade of the western gymnasium of the ancient city of Cos, the Italians used exactly the same method as that applied by Balanos in the anastelosis of the Parthenon north colonnade, see Livadiotti, M. and Rocco, G. (eds) La presenza italiana nel Dodecaneso tra il 1912 e il 1948. Prisma editions, Catania (1996), in particular 147, Figure 340.
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• Tschudi-Madsen, S. Restoration-Antirestoration. Universitetsforlaget, Oslo-Bergen-Tromso (1976).
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• The only theoretical debates about restoration of monuments took place in Greece in 1894-1898 and in 1921 and both concerned the anastelosis of the Parthenon. In the first debate — the more important, as it helped determine the attitude of Nicolaos Balanos towards restoration — there participated the Greek archaeologist Panagiotis Kavvadias, General Ephor of Antiquities at that time; the directors of the foreign archaeological schools already operating in Greece, such as the architect Wilhelm DOrpfeld, director of the German Archaeological Institute, and the archaeologist Theophile Homolle, director of the French Archaeological School (Ecole Française d'Athenes); and two foreign architects who were invited by the Greek government for their particular expertise on the Parthenon, namely the British architect Francis Cranmer Penrose — who had investigated the architectural refinements of the monument — and the German Joseph Durm, a renowned scholar in all Europe at that time in the field of classical architecture. In the second debate there participated mostly archaeologists, those of the Greek archaeological service and the directors of the foreign archeological schools operating in Greece. For the debates, see Mallouchou-Tufano, F. (1998) [2] 79-86, 180-184.
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• Penrose, who was particularly concerned with the visual aspect of the ruined Parthenon after the intervention, first proposed the indiscriminate use of the ancient blocks scattered on the ground and naturally weathered for the restoration of the monument. This proposal resolved also the practical problems that had come up in 1897 when, due to the Greek-Ottoman war of that year, it was impossible to quarry new marble from the Penteli mountain and the intervention on the Parthenon was seriously delayed. In the following years Balanos made extensive use of scattered ancient blocks, especially in the anastelosis of the Propylaia that he carried out during the Balkan Wars and the First World War. For the above, see Mallouchou-Tufano, F. (1998) [2] 85, 166-174.
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• Balanos, an experienced civil engineer, who had graduated from the then famous Ecole des Ponts et Chaussees of Paris, was the first to apply to ancient monuments a technique common in contemporary building construction in 19th century Europe, when he concealed the heavy metal reinforcements that carried the loads within the ancient architectural members. This was the personal contribution of Balanos to the restoration of ancient monuments, and was imitated by other countries, such as Italy, much later (in the end of the second decade of 20th century). See Mallouchou-Tufano, E (1998) [2] 231, 285.
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• Rossi Pinelli, O. Chirurgia della memoria: scultura antica e restauri storici. In: Settis, S. (ed.) Memoria dell'antico nell'arte italiana III. Giulio Einaudi editore, Torino (1986) 181–250, in particular 250.
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• During the 19th century the study of ancient Greek architecture was concentrated mainly on the issues of polychromy and the aesthetic refinements of the buildings. The study of the structural system of classical buildings, namely structures articulated in dry masonry, began in the 20th century with a new generation of researchers, in particular William Bell Dinsmoor (1886-1973).
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• Mallouchou-Tufano, F. Under the shadow of the Acropolis: the formation of a purist approach to the restoration of monuments in Greece. In: Cartledge, P. and Voutsaki, S. (eds) Archaeologies and Modern Identities. Ashgate Publishing Ltd. (in press).
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• Balanos used concrete for filling in the ancient blocks or for replacing missing members during the 2nd Restoration Programme of the Parthenon (1923-1933), which comprised, among others, the anastelosis of the north colonnade and the consolidation of the lintel of the west door. The use of concrete had been imposed by the difficult economic situation of the country, the Programme being carried out immediately following the so-called ‘Asia Minor Catastrophe’ of 1922. Balanos, however, justified the use of concrete - instead of natural stone - by pointing out its potential for chromatic assimilation to the neighbouring blocks. See Mallouchou-Tufano, F. (1998) [2] 185, 254-255.
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• The clear distinction between old and new in the interventions became one of the fundamental principles in Italian restoration theory and practice, as developed by its founding fathers Camillo Boito and Gustavo Giovannoni at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. See Giovannoni, G. Restauri dei Monumenti. BdA 7 (1913) 1-42. In this perspective, the use of concrete became very popular for reasons completely opposite to those claimed by Balanos, i.e. for its ability to be distinguishable from the neighbouring natural stone or bricks.
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• Already since 1941 Yiannis Meliades, then Ephor of Acropolis, was sending reports to the Ministry of National Education about the damage caused to the monuments by Balanos' reinforcements. See Mallouchou-Tufano, F. (1998) [2] note 668.
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• For the second period of the restoration of the ancient monuments in Greece (1939-1967), see H anastelosis ton mnimeion stin Ellada, theoria kai praktiki0 Published by `Elliniki Etaireia' for the Protection of the Environment and the Cultural Heritage, Athens (1986). For the personality and work of Orlandos, see Anastasios Ortondos, o Anthropos kai to Eergon tou. Academy of Athens editions, Athens (1978). However, a comprehensive history of the period is lacking.
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• For the etymology of the term, see: Dimacopoulos, J. Anastylosis and Anasteloseis. ICOMOS Information 1 (1985) 16-25. The spelling `anastylosis' is erroneous, because the term does not derive from the word Vrülkoc“(meaning pier) but from the word'oTiihn (meaning the vertical rectangular slab - funerary, dedicatory or other - with inscriptions or other representations) and the derivative verb'crvaotqAth (meaning fixing aLaTlikg (and, in metaphorical sense, a monument) in a standing position).
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• For the full texts of the international charters, see www.unesco.com. For the definition of the term `anastelosis' in the Italian charters of 1931 and 1972, see Gurrieri, F. Dal restauro dei monumenti al restauro del territorio. lusf Edizioni, Firenze (1975) 94, 105.
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• In Greek the term anastelosis is also used in a wider meaning, designating all sort of interventions on the monuments, from a simple consolidation to a wider restoration. For the Greek terms of the basic types of interventions on the monuments, see the glossary in the Appendix at the end of this article.
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• The stylobate is the first (from above) step of the crepis (rectangular platform) of an ancient Greek building, on which lie the columns. Epistyles or architraves are the rectangular blocks over two columns. Entasis is the characteristic curvature of a column of an ancient building, at its greatest development (meiosis is the opposite, the curvature being the least towards the two ends of the column).
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• Dinsmoor's report is fully published in Mallouchou-Tufano, E (1998) [2] 314–330.
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• Bouras, Ch. H anastelosis tis Stoas tis Vrauronos, ta architektonika tis provlimata. Publication of the General Directorate of Antiquities and Anastelosis of the Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs, Athens (1967).
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• The principal law for the protection of the cultural heritage of the country is the Law 3028/2002 ‘For the Protection of the Antiquities and in general of the Cultural Heritage’. For the legal texts, see Pantos, P. Kodikapoiisi nomothesias gia tin Politistiki Klironomia. Publication of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Athens (2001).
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• The Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of the Environment and of Public Works are principally responsible for the protection of the cultural heritage in Greece. With the above ministries collaborate local municipalities, the private sector and non-profit associations, such as the Archaeological Society at Athens and the `Elliniki Etaireia' (Hellenic Society) for the Protection of the Environment and the Cultural Heritage.
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• Greece has signed and adopted in its legislation the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property of 1970, the Convention for the Protection of the Architectural Heritage of Europe of Granada of 1985, the European Convention for the Protection and Management of the Archaeological Heritage of Valetta of 1992, the ICOMOS Charter of Principles for the Analysis, Conservation and Structural Restoration of Architectural Heritage of 2003.
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• Since 1998/9 the National Technical University of Athens and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki have organized inter-departmental postgraduate courses on the protection and conservation of monuments and, generally, of the cultural heritage.
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• For the activity of the Committee for the Conservation of the Acropolis Monuments (known as ESMA from the initials of the Greek words), see Mallouchou-Tufano, F. Thirty years of anastelosis works on the Athenian Acropolis, 1975-2005. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites, 8 (1) (2006), 27-38, including all the main, previous bibliographical references.
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• The Acropolis Committee has been the model for the foundation of other interdisciplinary committees, such as those established for the anastelosis of the monuments of the Sanctuary of Asclepios (Asclepieion) at Epidauros, the temple of Apollo Epikourios in Phigaleia in Peloponnese, and the portico (Stoa) and the temple of Athena at the Acropolis of Lindos in Rhodes, all of them committees, which founded shortly after the ESMA and whose work is the anastelosis of monuments of Greco-Roman antiquity. In the following years many others have been founded, within the framework of the Ministry of Culture, for the protection and restoration of monuments of other periods and architectural types.
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• The proposals for interventions on the monuments are first examined and discussed by the members of the interdisciplinary committees. Subsequent examination is held and final decision taken by the Central Archaeological Council, the supreme consultant institution of the Ministry of Culture.
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• For the International Meetings for the Restoration of the Acropolis Monuments, see Mallouchou-Tufano, F. (2006) [29] note 8.
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• Thompson, H. Itinerant temples of Attica. AJA 66 (1982) 200; Dinsmoor, W. Jr. Anchoring two floating temples. Hesperia 51 (4) (1982) 410–452, pl. 95-96.
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• Korres, M. Vorfertigung und Ferntransport eines Athenischen Grossbaus und zur Proportionierung von Saulen in der Hellenistischen Architektur, Bauplanung und Bautheorie der Antike, 4 (1983) 201–207.
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• For an analysis of the structural system of Greek classical architectural monuments and the particularities of their individual architectural members, see, Korres, M. The Construction of Ancient Greek Temples. In: Economakis, R. (ed.) (1994) [5] 21–33; Korres, M. and Bouras, Ch. Meleti Apokatastaseos tou Parthenonos. ESMA Publication, Athens (1983), 5-129; Korres, M. A consideration of the tectonic and plastic character of the Parthenon as in a half-finished state, as completed, as a ruin and as restored. In: Filetici, M.G., Giovanetti, F., Mallouchou-Tufano, F. and Pallottino, E. (eds) Restoration of the Athenian Acropolis, 1975-2003. Quaderni ARCo, Gangemi Editore, Rome (2003) 94–95.
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• The great quantity of the coffers of the ceiling of the central building of the Propylaia that are preserved as well as of the blocks of the side cella walls of the Parthenon (around 700) justifies their anastelosis on the monuments, even, in some cases, in conventional positions similar to the form and structural function of the original ones. See: Tanoulas, T. and Ioannidou, M. Meleti Apokatastaseos tis Anodomis tou Kentrikou Ktiriou ton Propylaion. ESMA Publication, Athens (2002); Paraschi, C. and Toganidis, N. Meleti Apokatastaseos tou Notiou Toixou tou Parthenonos. ESMA Publication, Athens (2002); Toganidis, N. and Matala, K Meleti Apokatastaseos tou Voreiou Toixou tou Parthenonos. ESMA Publication, Athens (2002) for the Propylaia and the Parthenon respectively.
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• The preservation of the broken surface of the individual architectural members is very important, because it makes possible the eventual future identification of the missing fragment. By resetting the architectural members in their original positions, automatically the ancient sockets are recovered. There is also the case (as, for example, in the Athenian Acropolis) that the new anastelosis follows the arrangement of the blocks given by the previous restorer. In this case the cutting of new sockets is also avoided, since the sockets created in the previous intervention are re-used.
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• For the theoretical principles guiding the restoration of Greek classical architecture, see Bouras, Ch. The International Charter of Venice and the Restoration of Classical Buildings'. In: Economakis R. (ed.) (1994) [5] 88–91. For the structural restoration of the architectural members of Greek classical monuments, see Zambas, C. Structural interventions on the Acropolis monuments. In: Economakis, R. (ed.) (1994) [5] 106-109 and Ioannidou, M. Structural restoration. In: Filetici, M.G., Giovanetti, F., Mallouchou-Tufano, F. and Pallottino, E. (2003) [29] 150–156.
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• A characteristic example is the use of titanium for the replacement of the older joining and reinforcement elements of iron in the anastelosis of the Athenian Acropolis, being compatible in its mechanical properties with the Pentelic marble of the monuments. Modern materials are also used with a known and stable behaviour and wear over time. Thus, again in the Athenian Acropolis, inorganic materials are preferred, in relation to the polymeric ones, for the conservation of the surface of the monuments.
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• Later buildings in the immediate surroundings of classical monuments have often left traces on their blocks (characteristic examples are the traces of the inclined roofs of the adjacent buildings or the straight line of the cavities of the floor or ceiling beams). With the correct repositioning of the architectural members of the classical monuments during their anastelosis, the correct shape of these traces is automatically recovered, resulting thus in valuable information about the architecture of the later buildings. This recovery can also have the opposite result, as it leads sometimes to the identification (or the verification) of the exact position of the ancient blocks on the classical buildings: indeed, it is used as an identification of the criteria for the sequence of the ancient blocks.
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• In some cases the aesthetic and scientific value of the ancient members require their preservation in a museum and their substitution on the monument by copies in new material. This is the case, for example, of the capital of the north-east Ionic column of the central building of the Propylaia composed by Balanos with four angular fragments of Ionic capitals, which are excellent examples of classical marble cutting and sculpture. In the current anastelosis it has been decided to exhibit these fragments in the Acropolis Museum and to set on the monument a new capital, an exact copy of the ancient one, made of new Pentelic marble. In other cases the fragmentary condition of the ancient architectural members requires, for structural reasons, their replacement with new ones or their completion with new material.
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• The landscape created by an anastelosis intervention becomes symbolic and a reference point for the site or the monument restored. On this issue, see Gizzi, S., Anastilosi, topos e false immagini, o decor du cinemaatir/OZ e Progetto, Ii recupero del senso (2000) 53–80.
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• The temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion in Attica has acquired its present appearance through continuous anastelosis interventions, first in 1898-1900 (anastelosis of the stereobate, i.e. the rectangular platform on which it rests), afterwards in 1908 (anastelosis of the south-east anta of the cella) and in 1956-1959 (anastelosis of four columns of the north side of the peristyle). For these interventions, see Mallouchou-Tufano, F. (1998) [2] 106, 138 and Anastasios Ortondos, o Anthrapos kat to Ergon tou (1978) [18] 423. As for the temple of Aphaea in the island of Aegina, this had undergone a thorough anastelosis, by Orlandos, in 1951-1960, during which the second, superimposed, order of the inner colonnade of the cella had been restored for ‘didactic’ purposes (thus, the temple became the only one in Greece which has an inner colonnade of this kind). For the intervention in Aphaea, see Anastasios Ortondos, o Anthropos kai to Ergon tou (1978) [18] 425-439.
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• For the anastelosis, in 1994-1997, of the temple of Demeter at Sagri of Naxos, see Lambrinoudakis V., Gruben G., Ohnesorg A, Korres M., Bilis T., Magnisali M. and Simandoni-Bournia E., Naxos-Das Heilig-tum von Gyroula bei Sagri. Antike Welt 33 (4)(2002) 387 –406.
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• As in the Acropolis of Athens, the ruins of the Stoa and Temple of Athena at the Acropolis of Lindos, in Rhodes, which had been heavily restored in the 1930s, during the Italian occupation of the island, suffered from the ill-effects of the previous intervention (rusting of the iron reinforcements, subsequent fragmentation and falling of the building stone of the monuments), rendering unavoidable a new, rescue, operation, which began in 1989/90. For the new intervention, see Eleytheriou V. and Pikoula M. (eds), Anastelotikes ergasies stin Akropoli tis Lindou, I, Ellinistiki Stoa (A). Publication of the Funds of Credits Management for Archaeological Projects-Committee for the Consolidation and Anastelosis of the Monuments of the Acropolis of Lindos of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Athens (2002).
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• Paraphrasing the division, in the Declaration of San Antonio (Chap. B.5), of the cultural sites of the Americas into dynamic and static, we could say that the Greek archaeological sites, which comprise monuments of the classical period, are both static and dynamic. This is due to their continuous use as exhibits and identification resources as well as to the potential quality of the disjecta membra of their architectural monuments to be used in successive and continuous transformations of the archeological landscape.
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