the impending decision of the greek minister of culture, to demolish two beautiful, officially preserved, art deco buildings on the pedestrian street below the Acropolis, so that the visitors to the new (expected to open in late 2007) Acropolis Museum, could have a slightly, better, unobstructed view to the Parthenon. The new Acropolis Museum was built to house the Elgin Marbles, when and if the British Museum decides to return these stolen items to Greece. Proponents of the demolition surrealistically argue that the yet unreturned marbles that will be housed at the top floor of the huge new Museum, should be visually linked to their former abode up in the Acropolis. The two adjacent buildings are on Areopagitou Street, Nos 17 and 19. #19 actually belongs to the world famous composer Vangelis Papathanassiou (Chariots of Fire, 1492). Areopagitou 21 has already been demolished in 2002.

The vote on the demolition at the joint architectural and archaeological committee on July 3, 2007 was a tie (12-12) so it is up to minister Giorgos Voulgarakis to decide.

You can visit the blog and read the petition by the owner of #17 at http://areopagitou17.blogspot.com/

The blog features photos which demonstrate that the two buildings only marginally obstruct the view.

Another - admittedly subjective - argument for keeping the two beautiful buildings in place, is that they help hide - at the pedestrian level - the new Acropolis Museum - a huge, modern eyesore which bears no relation whatsoever to the transcendental harmony and proportion symbolised by the Acropolis.