first built.
The restoration process began at the Acropolis Museum in Athens in 2011.
Each larger than life-size figurine takes seven months to clean.
The statues were removed from the Erechtheion Temple in the 1970s.
One, removed in the 19th century, now stands in the British Museum.
Some of the Greece's most celebrated beauties are getting a facelift, and after almost 2,500 years it's not surprisin
they're looking a little weather-beaten.
The Caryatids statues, which until the late 1970s propped up a section of the Erechtheion Temple on the Acropolis,
are being cleansed of grime inside the museum where they're housed.
Restoration work is taking place in the Acropolis museum in Athens, surrounded by a white fabric screen to protect
visitors from laser beams, which can cause permanent eye injury.
Museum director Dimitris Pantermalis said the main reason for cleaning the sculptures on the spot was to avoid the
potential hazards of moving them.
One of the six Caryatids was removed by Lord Elgin in the 19th century and today stands in the British Museum.
The other five were removed from the Erechtheion in 1979 to protect them from air pollution and acid rain and
replaced by copies.
But there is additional value of offering tourists the spectacle of restoring some of the greatest glories of the
ancient world. "We want to offer visitors a backstage peek," the curator said.
Visitors are impressed: "The fact it was in situ, taking place in the museum, it does bring home to you the actual
level of care is needed to bring these back to life," said British tourist Trevor Richards, from Manchester.
It takes about seven months to cleanse each of the larger than life-sized statues, which were carved around 420 B.C. Work began in 2011, and is expected to be finished in June.
By Ted Thornhill for -28 Jan 2018
