How to behave, when you visit a monument

Transcription

1 Preventive conservation: a shield that protects monuments How to behave, when you visit a monument MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND SPORT GENERAL DIRECTORATE OF ANTIQUITIES AND CULTURAL HERITAGE DIRECTORATE OF MUSEUMS DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS AND COMMUNICATION 1

2 Before a visit: Visit a monument at a time of year when it has few visitors. Then your visit has a smaller impact on the monument and you can enjoy it more. Use public transport to get to the monument. Cars are responsible for more volatile gas pollutants, which are responsible for ruining ancient marbles. During a visit: Wear flat shoes with soft soles. You don t want to damage the materials of the monument and you want to enjoy your tour around without your feet hurting. Speak in low tones. This way you can enjoy your tour and increase your contact with the ancient monument; you can hear the tour guide better and the guards as well; and allow other visitors to do the same. 2

3 Eat and smoke only in designated areas. This way you can enjoy your contact with the monument more and ensure you do not leave any rubbish behind. Walk calmly around the area. Don t run and don t climb, as that would put at risk the monuments, yourselves and other visitors as well as those working on site. Access to many archaeological sites is very difficult for doctors or ambulances. Stand behind any crowd-control bars and ropes, where those exist. ` These designate the area of the monument can be explored safely. Rope barriers indicate areas of the monuments where access is denied, for the safety of the ancient materials and the visitors. 3

4 Don t touch the materials of the monuments. Worn surfaces cannot stand repeated contact and pressure. Additionally, your fingers leave behind substances that can be destructive to ancient materials. Finally, there is the danger of toppling and breaking something fragile. Take photographs where it s permitted, without using a flash. The ultraviolet radiation of a flash causes ancient colours to fade. Avoid leaving behind souvenirs of your visit. Chewing gum that s been spat out and stepped-on; scratches and magic markers on ancient materials are very hard to remove and cause irreparable damage to monuments. Don t take souvenirs from the monuments or the ground. Large or small fragments of rock, metal or clay, found laying on the ground may provide experts with significant information and belong solely to the monument. 4

5 Athens, 2015 Project coordinator Maria Lagogianni, Ph.D. (Archaeology) Souzana Choulia Kapeloni, Archaeologist General editing Tonia Koutsouraki, Archaeologist Alexandra Seleli, Archaeologist - Museologist Graphic Design Editor Spilios Pistas, Graphic artist Texts Sofia Papida, Conservator of Antiquities and Works of Art - Museologist Translation into English Katerina Apostolaki, Translator - Interpreter Digital and Graphic Design Pashalia Tsagarian, Graphic designer Irene Charalampidi, Graphic designer 2015 Ministry of Culture and Sport ISBN The leaflet How to behave when you visit a monument of the theme Preventive conservation: a shield for protecting monuments was created and digitised in 2015, within the framework of Action code no. MIS Updating and digitizing educational material to support the educational process, which is implemented by the Directorate of Museums as part of the Operational Programme Education and Lifelong Learning and jointly funded by the European Union (European Social Fund) and by national funds.