Athens Acropolis to Get Disabled-friendly Lift, New Lights

The Acropolis in Athens.

One of the world’s most visited archaeological sites, the Acropolis in Athens, will soon offer improved disabled access thanks to the installation of a new lift, the Greek culture ministry said this week.

The country’s central archaeological council (KAS) approved a new elevator to provide improved access to disabled visitors as well as the upgrade of existing lighting for the site and its landmarks.

The council agreed to replace a repeatedly malfunctioning lift with a new modern and more functional elevator that will have two entrances going directly to the Acropolis.

In terms of lighting, the KAS decision refers back to a 2003 study carried out by renowned French lighting designer Pierre Bideau – behind the lighting of the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Georges Pompidou Center, the Moulin Rouge, and the Louvre among others.

The planning will be carried out by Bideau’s collaborator Costas Kapos of the Doxiadis Bureau. Cypriot film director Michalis Cacoyannis had suggested enhancing the city’s monuments and most important buildings through lighting.