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P1060235.JPG

Acropolis, Athens, Greece: temple to Athena Nike (Victory) The Temple of Ephestus with Propillare doorway with rooms for cleansing meditation. Marble was cut and shaped in the quarry. Wagons were used to bring the marble to the site, with wheel carts attached to each piece. Pulleys were used to raise them to the construction area. No mortar was used. Holes were made in the marble and iron or bronze metal cores were put in the holes to make the construction seismically safe. To avoid staining from the iron or bronze core, it was covered with white lead. Unfortunately, in modern times many of the stones were removed in order to extract the lead for bullets. Early reconstruction used steel, but it oxidizes badly, especially in the smog from modern factories. The smog and oxidation led to acid rain, which eats up the marble. The current reconstruction (1982-2020) involves taking down the stones and replacing the steel with titanium and injecting the hurt marble with a solution that should strengthen the stone. Broken stones have been filled with marble from the ancient quarries. The new marble now looks white, but it will age to cream. Calculations from the original masons were scratched into the marble.