The Action was included in the Operational Program “Competitiveness Entrepreneurship and Innovation 2014-2020”, within the Special Action “OPEN INNOVATION IN CULTURE” and is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of the European Union and national resources.
The Ministry of the Environment, for the first time, participates in collaborative research actions with third parties. The Ephorate of Antiquities of the City of Athens (EFAPA), the Institute of Electronic Structure and Lasers of the Technology and Research Foundation (IHDL-ITE) and the company RaymetricsA.E. participate in the CALLOS project.
The main objective of the project is the application of innovative diagnostic methods and maintenance procedures, which are based on advanced optical and laser technologies and have as their field of action emblematic archaeological sites and monuments of the city of Athens. In addition, the project aims to create an Open Conservation Laboratory (OCL) which will allow, on the one hand, scientists and researchers to apply, in-situ, innovative practices that have been studied and developed in the laboratory, and on the other hand, archaeologists and antiquities conservators to strengthen the dissemination of their activities both to the specialized and to the general public.
At the same time, with the support of the Cultural Informatics Center of the Information Systems Laboratory (CCI-ISL) of the Institute of Informatics of the ITE (ΙΠ-ΙΤΕ) a digital repository will be developed which will host all the results of the new methods and will be accessible through project website.
CALLOS is called upon to show the general public that lasers do not belong only to science fiction films, but also that, among their multitude of applications, they can, with appropriate scientific methods and devices, analyze, map, clean and ultimately protect monuments. At the same time, the project will shed more light on the presence and action of an entire micro-biome that sometimes acts parasitically and sometimes coexists harmoniously with the ancient marbles and will help to develop a methodology for its proper diagnosis, analysis and treatment.
By involving the public in the work of CALLOS, we hope that we participate in our own combative way in understanding the value of cultural heritage and its preservation on the one hand as a priority in the minds of the people and on the other hand as a state obligation among the policies that are designed
The Open Conservation Workshop (AES) will operate at the EFAPA facilities in the center of Athens. The doors and web portals of the CALLOS AES are expected to open to the public in about two years, and the research team looks forward to spilling the knowledge gained into a unique communication experience with the timeless brilliance of the monuments of the city of Athens.
The Ephorate of Antiquities of the City of Athens has been designated as the coordinator of the Project, while the scientific supervision is carried out by the photonics application laboratory in Cultural Heritage (PhotonicsForHeritageScience, PhoHS) of IHDL-ITE.
The project will last forty-four (44) months. Start date 02-28-2020 and end 10-27-2023

The Project «Conservation of Athens antiquities with Laser and Lidar technologies Open to Science and public» (CALLOS) was included in the Operational Program “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation 2014-2020” (EPAnEK), in the frame of the Special Action “AQUACULTURE – INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS – OPEN INNOVATION IN CULTURE”, and is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of the EU and by national resources.
The Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports for the first time participates with third parties in collaborative research activities. In the project CALLOS the collaborating bodies are the Ephorate of Antiquities of the City of Athens, the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser of the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (IESL-FORTH) and the private company Raymetrics SA.
The main aim of the project is the implementation of innovative diagnostic methods and conservation procedures, which are based on advanced optical and laser technologies, with field of application the emblematic monuments and archaeological sites of Athens. Additionally, CALLOS aims at establishing an open-to-the-public conservation laboratory allowing, on the one hand, scientists and researchers to apply in-situ innovative practices that have been studied and developed in the laboratory, and enabling, on the other hand, archaeologists and conservators of antiquities to enhance the diffusion of their activities to the specialized community but also to the general public.
At the same time, having the support of the Centre for Cultural Informatics at the Information Systems Laboratory (CCI-ISL) of The Institute of Computer Sciences (ICS) at FORTH, a digital repository will be developed which will host all the results of the new methods and will be accessible through the project’s website.
By involving the public in the works/tasks of CALLOS, we hope to participate in our own active way to the understanding of the value of cultural heritage andits preservation, on the one hand as a priority in people’s mind, and on the other hand as a State’s obligation through the applicable policies.
CALLOS is invited to show to the general public that laser technology does not belong only to science fiction films but also that, through its multitude of applications and appropriate scientific methods and devices, it can analyze, map, clean and ultimately protect monuments. At the same time, the project will shed light to the presence and activity of a whole micro-biocosmthat sometimes acts parasitically and sometimes coexists harmoniously with the ancient marbles, and will help develop a methodology forits proper diagnosis, analysis and treatment.
The open-to-the-public conservation laboratory will operate at the premises of the ephorate in the center of the city of Athens. Its doors and web portals are expected to open to the public in about two years and the research team is looking forward to disseminating the acquired knowledge in a unique experience of communication with the timeless glow of the monuments of the city of Athens.
Coordinator of the Project is The Ephorate of Antiquities of the City of Athens, while the scientific supervision is by FORTH’s laboratory group “Photonics For Heritage Science”, (PhoHS).
The project will last forty-four (44) months. Starting date on 28-02-2020 and ending on 27-10-2023.


It concerns the cleaning of the shrine of the burial temple of Agathon that was carried out in the area of the Archaeological Museum of Kerameikos in collaboration with the Ephorate of Antiquities of Athens, the German Archaeological Institute and the ITE, in the spring of 2015. The conservators of the Ephorate F. Katevas and K. Xanthoulis, the maintainer of GAI G. Papagrigoriou and the technical associate of ITE L. Tondou.
This particular photo is taken by Mrs. P. Poulis (ITE).
1 Comment
«CALLOS – Ανοιχτό Εργαστήριο Συντήρησης των μνημείων της Αθήνας, με τεχνολογίες Λέιζερ και LIDAR» - efaathculture.gr · October 22, 2024 at 7:07 am
[…] περισσότερα… Categories: ΑΝΑΚΟΙΝΩΣΕΙΣΔΡΑΣΕΙΣΣΥΝΤΗΡΗΣΗ […]
Comments are closed.