Greek Minister of Culture George Voulgarakis recently called for a two-year national restoration program to take advantage of some of the 24.4 billion euros (30 billion dollars) allotted to Greece in EU structural funds for 2007-2013.

"It is imperative to organize the restorations in the country," the minister in charge of restorations, Demosthenes Giraud, told AFP. "The most pressing projects are the theaters, but these undertakings require a lot of time and are very expensive."

"We have to draw up a list of buildings that are the most important to restore," he said. "Each village wants its own ancient theater, but this is impossible."

Several surveys are already underway at famous archeological sites in the towns of Nemea and Epidaurus in mainland Greece, and on the southern Aegean island of Delos.

The four fallen columns at the temple of Zeus in Nemea are set to stand tall once again, and the renowned rotunda in Epidaurus, the "tholos", will undergo renovations.

Delos' antique theater will also receive a facelift with the help of specialists from the prestigious French School of Athens (EFA) -- the 250-year-old academy in charge of archeological research and maintenance on Delos and other sites throughout Greece.

Constructed in the beginning of the 3rd century BC, the theater sits near the sea and at one point could seat up to 5,500 spectators.

Plans presented to Giraud last month call for a refurbishment of two thirds of the theater's crumbling foremost tiers.

"The French studies are ready and we want to move forward with them and integrate them into the European financial program," said Giraud.

As with the Delos project, the decades-long restoration of the Acropolis is also being realized via EU funding and international cooperation.

The unique cadre of specialists working on, as Voulgarakis puts it, "the most important restoration project in the world," are among the best on the international scene.

Restoration expenditures for the six-year period encompassing 1999 through 2005 reached around 28.5 million euros (35.7 million dollars), 86 percent of which was covered by EU funds.

For 2005-2006 alone, the EU allotted 10.5 million euros (13 million dollars), while the Greek treasury provided another two million euros.

The scientific work carried out at the Parthenon, the Propylaia and the small temple of Athena Nike is at the source of international cooperation with South Korea -- which used the expertise on its stone pagodas -- Italy, Mexico and recently, with China.

Not every country's interaction with the famous temple has been as friendly, however.

In 1806-11, at a time when Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire, agents of British ambassador Lord Elgin removed several sculptures from the Parthenon.

Depicting gods, monsters and men, the sculptures are currently housed in London's British museum.

Greece has demanded the return of the so-called Elgin marbles for over 20 years, complaining that the works -- masterpieces executed at the height of the Greek classical period --were illegally removed and part of its national heritage.

Earlier this month Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis announced that the new Acropolis museum would be completed by mid-2007, a move that will put increased pressure on the British government to return the marbles.

A total of more than 116 million euros (145 million dollars) of EU funds was directed towards conservation and restoration work in Greece in 2000-2006.