摘要：
希腊雅典的帕台农神庙历来以其肃穆的白色外表呈现在世界各地的明信片上，但该国考古学家日前发现，这座历经2400多年风雨洗礼的建筑最早其实是被涂成红、蓝和绿色的。
Its austere white is on every postcard, but the Athens Parthenon was originally daubed with red, blue and green, the Greek archaeologist supervising conservation work on the 2,400-year-old temple said.

希腊雅典的帕台农神庙历来以其肃穆的白色外表呈现在世界各地的明信片上，但该国考古学家日前发现，这座历经2400多年风雨洗礼的建筑最早其实是被涂成红、蓝和绿色的。

据法新社2月24日报道，埃维·帕帕康斯坦丁努是负责监督帕台农神庙修缮工作的高级考古学家。日前她在接受法新社记者采访时说："最近我们在使用激光对神庙进行清洗工作时发现，神庙西部的雕刻上残存有赤铁矿（红色）、埃及蓝(一种含有铜、钙、硅的浅蓝色颜料）以及孔雀石－蓝铜矿（蓝绿色）的痕迹。"

帕帕康斯坦丁努说，尽管几年以前考古学家们在帕台农神庙其他地方发现了前两种颜料的痕迹，但蓝绿色颜料是在最近才发现的。她还表示，根据古代文献的记载，帕台农神庙外围那些具有标志意义的多里安柱也有可能原先是彩色的。

帕台农神庙始建于公元前447年。7世纪土耳其占领希腊时，曾把神庙当作火药库，1687年威尼斯军队的炮火击中神庙，引起爆炸，使建筑和装饰雕刻遭到毁灭性的损害。神庙东部的残存雕刻大部分后来被运往英国和法国，至今保存在大英博物馆和巴黎卢浮宫等处。

在古代希腊，建筑雕刻原来都涂有鲜艳的色彩，后因年深日久，色彩消褪了，才露出柔和的大理石原色。考古学家们从1987年开始对位于雅典卫城中心的帕台农神庙的大理石构件进行修缮。对卫城整体的主要修缮工作预计到2009年完成。

（国际在线独家资讯 何晓鸿）

Its austere white is on every postcard, but the Athens Parthenon was originally daubed with red, blue and green, the Greek archaeologist supervising conservation work on the 2,400-year-old temple said.

"A recent cleaning operation by laser revealed traces of haematite (red), Egyptian blue and malachite-azurite (green-blue) on the sculptures of the western frieze," seniorarchaeologist Evi Papakonstantinou-Zioti told AFP.

While archaeologists had found traces of the first two colours elsewhere on the temple years ago, the malachite-azurite colouring was only revealed in the latest restoration process, Papakonstantinou-Zioti said.

Given the testimony of ancient writers, it is not unlikely that the Parthenon's trademark columns were also coloured, she added.

Archaeologists have been trying since 1987 to remedy damage wrought on the Parthenon's marble structure by centuries of weather exposure and decades of smog pollution.

Principal restoration work on the entire Acropolis citadel, which stands in the centre of the modern Greek capital, is scheduled to be completed by 2009.

Dedicated to the ancient Greek goddess Athena, patron of the ancient city of Athens, the Parthenon was badly damaged during a Venetian siege of occupying Ottoman Turkish forces in 1687.

Much of the temple's eastern frieze was removed in the early 19th century by agents of Lord Elgin, then British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.

Elgin subsequently sold the sculptures to the British Museum in London, where they are still on display, despite persistent efforts by the Greek government to secure their return for the past 20 years.

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