From Castle to Monument : Metamorphoses of the Acropolis from the 19th to the 21st Century

by: Mallouchou-Tufano, F.

The book deals with the changes that the Acropolis landscape underwent during the 200 years of its most recent history and the successive transformations on the basis of which the Acropolis, from a fortified castle that was on the eve of the foundation of the Greek state, mutated into an archeological, archetypal of classical art,monument.

The book is structured in 5 sections, in chronological order, starting from the end of the 18th century, when European interest turned to the Greek area, then under Ottoman rule, discovering the ancient Greek world for the first time. This is followed, in the second section, by the narration of the interventions in the Acropolis after its declaration as the first archaeological site of the newly established Greek state throughout the 19th century.

The third section deals with the restoration work of N. Balanos, extremely important, because on the one hand it completes the process of forming the established image of the Acropolis, emblematic of Western civilization, on the other hand because his misguided technological applications in the monuments make it inevitable a new, life-saving intervention in them in the last quarter of the 20th century. After a brief reference, in the fourth section, to the few interventions that were decisive for the image of the Acropolis in the immediate post-war period, the book, in the last section, focuses on the modern restoration of the Acropolis.

Its distinct qualitative characteristics are presented, the principles that govern it, the techniques of intervention in the monuments, the way it participates in a new transformative process of the rock, which has already begun. Especially with regard to this last issue, all its parameters are discussed and its effects assessed. The epilogue of the book summarizes the main findings regarding the perpetual transformation of the Acropolis. [From the foreword by Georgios Savvaidis, President of EFA]

The publication is dedicated to the memory of Evi Tulupa.

From Castle to Monument : Metamorphoses of the Acropolis from the 19th to the 21st Century

by: Mallouchou-Tufano, F.

• ISBN-13: 9789606729232 / 978-960-6729-23-2
• ISBN-03: 9606729230 / 960-6729-23-0
• The Society of Friends of the Acropolis, ΑΘΗΝΑ / Athens, 2023