This is already happening in some European cities. In the City of Light Eiffel Tower dims the lights an hour earlier than usual, and in Berlin its facade Cathedral and Victory Column now they remain unlit at night. In Brussels, the Grand Place is slightly darker in the evenings, while in Prague, similar measures are applied in The Charles Bridge. And all this is just the beginning: the reduction or even termination of night lighting of monuments is the subject of consultations in a number of European countries.

What’s going on in Hellas in view of the upcoming, energetically difficult winter? And what is its meaning energy saving what does modern illumination of some great monuments accomplish?

According with information “K”The committee was set up in principle Ministry of Culture with the topic of energy saving and these days she has in her hands a list of monuments and how to cover them. The Ministry requested and received from the competent authorities, such as the offices of antiquities in Attica and Thessaloniki, a report on the premises, which have either the usual functional “security lighting” or a new and more elegant “lighting”. At the same time, “energy managers” have been assigned to local services, who are waiting for instructions.

So while “allocation” has Acropolis, Temple of Hephaestus, Hadrian’s Gate, Tower of the Winds, Philopapus Monument, Pnik and Kallimarmaro, the rest of the archaeological sites are surrounded by the necessary “security lighting”. The latter also characterizes the monuments of Thessaloniki, with the exception of those sometimes illuminated by the municipality, such as the Byzantine Walls or the White Tower, when it is campaigned. To date, mass replacement of old, energy-intensive light bulbs has not been carried out due to the high cost. However, every new project is done on the basis of energy saving.

“One night match in Greek stadiums is equivalent to about 25 days of Kallimarmaros,” says G. Tellos.

One of the monuments whose lighting has recently been updated is the Panathinaikos Stadium. Lighting designer George Tellos he says energy conservation has been part of his research since the beginning. “With the new design, the savings increased by about three to four times,” he notes.

In the lighting design of monuments, he adds, there are two directions: aesthetic and technological. “When it comes to aesthetics, there are great approaches all over the world that emphasize a monument, building or even landscape very modestly. As for the technological part, new technologies are the only way forward, because old facilities are no longer maintained and are extremely energy intensive.”

“Imagine,” explains the designer, “that a night match in Greek stadiums is equivalent to about 25 days of Kallimarmaros running. Recently, various monuments have been erased in Europe. Apparently, only monuments bearing very old equipment are being erased. It is a mistake to turn off a modern, well-designed public space for energy conservation reasons. The energy gain will be negligible compared to the psychological imprint that a dark city can cause.”

She agrees with the importance of the psychological imprint Freedom Deco, who designed the new illumination of the Acropolis. “Energy saving is something complicated,” the designer answers a question about it. “The answer is that the new Acropolis lighting saves 65% of energy consumption than the previous one, or that the energy consumption of three PCs or two plasma TVs or a dehumidifier is equal to the energy consumption of the Parthenon lighting for the same duration – which is true – those would just be numerical correlations,” he explains.

According to Ms. Decaux, such issues are of concern to energy conservation specialists, and she herself can talk about lighting mainly as an art. “If I remember anything,” he concludes, “it is that the role of art in difficult times is to protect the social fabric from decay, competition, and possible friendships. In a sense, to help the “economy” of our social and mental forces.”