Editing Parthenon (section)

==Restoration==
[[File:Parthenon. Photo taken in 2023.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.2|Parthenon in January 2023]]
In 1981, an [[earthquake]] caused damage to the east façade.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Parthenon at Athens |url=http://www.goddess-athena.org/Museum/Temples/Parthenon/index.htm |access-date=29 December 2008 |publisher=www.goddess-athena.org}}</ref> Air pollution and [[acid rain]] have damaged the marble and stonework.<ref name="contemporary review">{{cite news |year=2001 |title=The Parthenon Marbles&nbsp;– Past And Future, Contemporary Review |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2242/is_1629_279/ai_80194454/pg_6 |work=Contemporary Review}}</ref>

An organized effort to preserve and restore buildings on the Acropolis began in 1975, when the Greek government established the Committee for the Conservation of the Acropolis Monuments (ESMA). That group of interdisciplinary specialist scholars oversees the academic understanding of the site to guide restoration efforts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Acropolis Restoration Service |url=https://www.ysma.gr/en/the-service/organizational-structure/ysma/ |access-date=18 July 2022 |website=YSMA |language=en-US}}</ref> The project later attracted funding and technical assistance from the [[European Union]]. An archaeological committee thoroughly documented every [[artifact (archaeology)|artefact]] remaining on the site, and architects assisted with [[computer model]]s to determine their original locations. Particularly important and fragile sculptures were transferred to the [[Acropolis Museum]].

A crane was installed for moving marble blocks; the crane was designed to fold away beneath the roofline when not in use.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Crane Shifts Masonry of Ancient Parthenon in Restoration Program |url=https://apnews.com/article/1f1d2e199842a47b79d9b7ceed29e624 |access-date=14 May 2022 |website=AP NEWS |language=en |archive-date=14 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220514072231/https://apnews.com/article/1f1d2e199842a47b79d9b7ceed29e624 |url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref> In some cases, prior re-constructions were found to be incorrect. These were dismantled, and a careful process of restoration began.<ref>[https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20081003065234/http://cipa.icomos.org/fileadmin/papers/Athens2007/FP111.pdf "The Surface Conservation Project"] (pdf file). Once they had been conserved, the West Frieze blocks were moved to the museum, and copies cast in artificial stone were reinstalled in their places.</ref>

Originally, various blocks were held together by elongated iron '''H''' pins that were completely coated in lead, which protected the iron from corrosion. Stabilizing pins added in the 19th century were not lead-coated, and corroded. Since the corrosion product (rust) is expansive, the expansion caused further damage by cracking the marble.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Unlocking the Mysteries of the Parthenon |author=Hadingham, Evan |magazine=[[Smithsonian Magazine]] |year=2008 |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/parthenon.html |access-date=22 February 2008 |archive-date=14 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090514030520/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/parthenon.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The last remaining slabs from the western section of the Parthenon frieze were removed from the monument in 1993 for fear of further damage.<ref>[http://www.ekt.gr/parthenonfrieze/index.jsp?lang=en National Documentation Centre&nbsp;– Ministry of Culture] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090905052605/http://www.ekt.gr/parthenonfrieze/index.jsp?lang=en|date=5 September 2009}}, see History of the Frieze</ref> They have now been transported to the new [[Acropolis Museum]].<ref name="contemporary review" /> Until cleaning of the remaining sculptures was completed in 2005,<ref>{{cite web |date=7 November 2005 |title=Springer Proceedings in Physics |url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/nlv83719nh172g71/ |access-date=20 January 2009 |publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]]}} {{dead link|date=February 2020|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> black crusts and coatings were present on the marble surface.<ref>{{cite web |date=14 August 2007 |title=Preserving And Protecting Monuments |url=http://wwwbrr.cr.usgs.gov/projects/SW_corrosion/teachers-pupils/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090618114315/http://wwwbrr.cr.usgs.gov/projects/SW_corrosion/teachers-pupils/index.html |archive-date=18 June 2009 |access-date=25 June 2009 |publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg}}</ref> Between 20 January and the end of March 2008, 4200 items (sculptures, inscriptions small [[terracotta]] objects), including some 80 artefacts dismantled from the monuments in recent years, were removed from the old museum on the Acropolis to the new Acropolis Museum.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Outdoor transfer of artefacts from the old to the new acropolis museum |url=https://www.culture.gr/war/NMA%20FINAL1t.ppt |access-date=29 December 2008}} {{dead link|date=December 2016|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=News |url=http://www.newacropolismuseum.gr/webnews/newslist.asp?offset=0&nid=64&lid=2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221134430/http://www.newacropolismuseum.gr/webnews/newslist.asp?offset=0&nid=64&lid=2 |archive-date=21 December 2021 |access-date=29 December 2008 |publisher=New Acropolis Museum}}</ref> 

In 2019, Greece's Central Archaeological Council approved a restoration of the interior cella's north wall (along with parts of others). The project will reinstate as many as 360 ancient stones, and install 90 new pieces of [[Pentelic marble]], minimizing the use of new material as much as possible. The eventual result of these restorations will be a partial restoration of some or most of each wall of the interior cella.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sakis |first=Ioannidis |date=5 May 2019 |title=Parthenon's Inner Sanctum to be Restored |work=Greece Is |url=https://www.greece-is.com/news/parthenons-inner-sanctum-restored/ |access-date=31 January 2022 |archive-date=31 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131211337/https://www.greece-is.com/news/parthenons-inner-sanctum-restored/ |url-status=live }}</ref>