Looking Lovelier by Laser

Written by Admin on October 25, 2008 – 4:11 pm -

The Acropolis temples in the Greek capital, Athens, are being given a high-tech makeover.

Over the past two-and-a-half thousand years, the elaborately sculpted stones have fallen prey to a film of black crust from car exhaust fumes and industrial pollution.

Now, a team of Greek engineers and restorers are using innovative laser technology to clean the surface of the monuments, uncovering colours and ornamentation hidden for decades.

The team tested forty different methods, including mechanical and chemical processes, to find the safest solutions to restore the white of the marbles without losing detail.

The winner was the brainchild of Crete’s Foundation for Research and Technology, which created a system that uses two laser beams of infra-red and ultra-violet rays simultaneously. The new system blasts off layers of black film, leaving the marble details intact and without discoloration.

It’s a risky business though, requiring the utmost precision. In the past, restoration attempts have caused damage.

“The cleaning is not reversible,” said Evi Papaconstantinou, the head of the restoration team. “If you remove something, you cannot put it back in place. So we must be quite sure that we remove the unwanted pollutants and leave the substratum intact.”

by Andy Moreton

Luxique offers top-class luxury Athens hotels with views of the Acropolis, including the sumptuous King George II Palace and Grand Bretagne.

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