European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 28, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse The Temple of zeus in Athena a primary Mediterranean Touriel attraction it endangered bythe visitors who Admire h. Ftp inn med world s treasures from c a i 4. .av1 c Tell Bym Mimann. Associated press prehistoric caves in Franca and s coliseum or Athens s Myslic pyramids. H s hard to imagine he Mediterranean world without its most. Lamous landmarks. Bui the area s monuments lace an Uncertain future As they become caught up in a push toward lucrative mass tourism that could endanger them. " indicative of the dilemma lacing the Region s. Planners is the View o Sayed mousse Egypt s head of tourism promotion who acknowledges that history and the tourist Dollar can a at Odds. _ antiquities officials Are so jealous of their rocks. He said. We have commercial interests to consider.". From another poin Lof View antiquities officials throughout the area decry the uproar caused when saving Monument 3 requires difficult decisions. Affecting Lou Elsis. We in Egypt Are constantly reminded thai our monuments belong not Only to Egypt but to the world said Mut Amie Balbous head of antiquities for upper Egypt,.where 23 restoration teams Are working in save tailing structures. -. As a Region,1 the Mediterranean Basin is the world s biggest tourist attraction. Host to More than a third of All International travellers the Region s 18 countries this year alone welcomed Well Over 110 million visitors 80 percent of them in Spain Italy and France h experts Are Correct 450 million to 700 million annual visitors will head to the mcdby2025, tourism is not new to the Mediterranean. Egypt and the rest of the Middle East already were ancient when history bulls Alexander the great Julius Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte look Lime out from Conquest to go sightseeing. In most countries Revenue from tourism is set aside at least partly for saying antiquities Bui transporting tourists pours exhaust fumes into lha air. Tourists stir up dust with their footsteps touch. Fragile Wall paintings with sweaty hands or mar them with Graffiti. Many ascend shaky monuments like Mountain goals Lor just the right photo. Even by breathing tourists damage some monuments. Throughout the Region a staggering growth in tourism has prompted sell defense decisions by antiquities officials. ". In Spain visited by 5q million tourists in 1968, officials a decade ago closed the Allam Lra caves with their 12,000-year-old Wall paintings of Bison and horses. The images had been damaged seriously by a Sharp Rise in humidity and temperature generated by 1,000 visitors. A Day. In 1982, the main Cave was reopened but Access lined to no More than 30 tourists Ai Day. A replica will be opened to All Comers in 1990. In France officials faced the same dilemma and closed the Lascaux caves near Montignay in 1953, a year alter 100,000 visitors surged into the Cave network. A facsimile opened in 1983 draws 350,000 visitors. Annually and officials have developed tourist control techniques for other caves in the Dof Dogne Region. Trying to preserve paintings while allowing visits.1 in Greece tourism authorities say visitors have. Caused no major damage but archaeologists counter that 30,000 eel trampling on the acropolis floor each summer s Day can be doing no Good in 1978. the 5lh-Century architectural glory of Athens. Golden age. Was roped off to the Public after years of being worn and chipped away by visitors heels. In Italy support scaffolding and a ban on traffic in Rome s historic Center have been tried to reduce Monument deterioration from acid rain car exhausts and traffic vibrations at Leas 10 percent of Italy s More than 50 million annual tourists go to Rome crowding such monuments As the forum and coliseum. Trevi Fountain soon is going behind a Clear plastic screen to accommodate tourists during a year Long restoration. Restorer Giorgio Toracca said the Only Way to Stop deterioration of Rome s monuments would be to put them under . But Glass cages would change the entire Page 14 the stars and stripes in Egypt a Glass Tunnel has been inserted into a 3,300-year-old Noble s Tomb that tourists and Lime had damaged. The world Bank financed the swedish Experiment As a possible solution to the emergency facing Many of the tombs of the West Bank cemetery of pharaohs Queens Royal children and courtiers the Pilot project has remained closed to tourists however As officials debate its pros and cons including whether the fragile Tomb s allure remains the same to people peering through Glass. Of the Mediterranean countries Egypt said to House More than half of the world s standing monuments has suffered the most with the crunch of Lime burgeoning population subterranean water pollution and Salt attacking historic remains. Lanny Bell director of Chicago House a special Arm. Of the University of Chicago s Oriental Institute has wrestled Lor 11 years with How to save decaying monuments in Southern Egypt s Luxor area the greatest concentration of monuments on Earth. Using photography and hand drawings Chicago House is recording some of Egypt s Best known monuments before they disappear in Many respects the modern egyptians live in a. Huge outdoor museum and museums Are to be visited Bell said. The question remains one of finding the Best Way to display an artefact even an artefact As Large a a Temple to Best most egyptian monuments were built As places of worship with restricted entry. Bell said lha dilemma for antiquities officials is keeping monuments in their Natura sellings while insulating them against tourist hordes tourism is Bolh necessary and Des Fabie he said. But if the present Rale of decay continues As it has Tor 100 years there will be no heed for tourists 200 years irom now to visit Luxor for its harass who controls gi2a plateau Egypt s Best known tourism area is trying to make it safer both for. Tourists and its monuments the Glza pyramids and the Sphinx. He Hopes television monitors being installed inside the pyramids can Stop tourist antics that began 1,100 years ego when treasure Hunters forced their Way into Cheops Pyramid. Wednesday
