Olympia restoration on track

[Ellinas]

The new Minister of Culture, Michalis Liapis, pledged yesterday that the work to restore the burned area around the site of Ancient Olympia would be completed in time for the lighting of the Olympic torch for the Beijing Games.

“I came here to observe and speed up the work that is being done,” said Liapis during his visit to Ancient Olympia. “We have a limited amount of time and the bulk of the work to protect the site needs to be done in the next two weeks because winter is on the way.” The lighting ceremony is due to take place on March 25. The torch will be carried to Athens, where it will be handed to a Beijing Olympics official on March 30. The torch will travel 137,000 kilometers through 135 cities before arriving in Beijing on August 8.

Ancient Olympia suffered severe damage during last month’s devastating fires in the Peloponnese but firefighters were able to prevent the fire reaching the museum and most of the ancient stadium. The Hill of Cronus, where the torch lighting takes place, was burnt.

KATHIMERINI