The Acropolis Restoration Project officially began in 1975 with the creation of the Committee for the Conservation of the Acropolis Monuments (ESMA). The project aims to rescue, stabilize, and restore the ancient structures on the Sacred Rock-including the Parthenon, the Propylaea, the Erechtheion, and the Temple of Athena Nike-from damages caused by time, past conflicts, and flawed historical restoration attempts.
The ongoing work follows strict scientific principles, prioritizing the preservation of the monuments' authenticity. Pentelic marble from the same ancient quarries is used exclusively for filling missing sections, and all interventions are designed to be reversible, allowing future generations of archaeologists to modify them if necessary. A critical phase of the project involved removing rusted iron clamps from 19th and early 20th-century restorations, which had expanded and cracked the stone, and replacing them with non-corrosive titanium grid joints.
Over the decades, the project has successfully restored the structural integrity and architectural geometry of the temples, correcting hundreds of ancient blocks that had been misplaced during earlier eras. Additionally, the original masterwork sculptures were moved to the indoor Acropolis Museum to shield them from atmospheric pollution and were replaced on the monuments by highly accurate casts, ensuring the longevity of this global cultural treasure.