"Greece spikes stilettos from ancient sites"

[raymond.nl]

ATHENS (AFP) — Greece wants to discourage women from wearing stiletto heels at summer performances held in key archaeological sites because of damage to the monuments, a senior culture ministry official said Thursday.

"Female visitors must wear shoes that do not wound the monuments," Eleni Korka, director of Greek prehistoric and classical antiquities, told AFP.

"These monuments have a skin that suffers and people must realise that."

A set of guidelines coming into force from next January will also ban food and drink at on-site performances and forbid entry to anyone who is drunk.

Show operators are also held to strict decibel limits and rules covering the installation and removal of scenery, Korka added.

"There is great pressure on the ministry to grant the use of archaeological sites from April to October but this is a schedule which the sites cannot bear, there must be a limit," she said.

Greek archaeologists are concerned that key sites such as the Roman-era Odeon of Herod Atticus in Athens and the Classical-era Epidaurus Theatre in the Peloponnese are showing the strain of continuous use, both in terms of wear caused by show equipment and the passage of thousands of spectators.

In 2006, the ministry stopped performances in August at the Odeon, saying the site had seen "excessive use" and was in need of maintenance.

A year earlier, maintenance crews found and removed an accumulated 27 kilogrammes (59 pounds) of chewing gum wads stuck under the marble seats.

Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iz29LPx_rV6P1ouRbxLZcf3nWO-A

[Tech]

I have to say, I really dont see why this is "news" other than to warn the masses not to wear heels there. These kind of things should be fairly obvious.. Same reason I ban all footwear in my house, to preserve the oak flooring from looking like a dart-board.

[Bad_Robot]

So are they going to issue visitors wearing high heels disposable flip flops or something so that they don't cause any damage??

[Tech]

So are they going to issue visitors wearing high heels disposable flip flops or something so that they don't cause any damage??

Nope, I'd just turn them away or tell them to remove the footwear.

[kikepa]

I would think the sweat from people's bare feet would prove as disasterous to the stonework as heels. I could be wrong...

[Guy N. Heels]

So are they going to issue visitors wearing high heels disposable flip flops or something so that they don't cause any damage??

It is probably a little difficult for the average American to relate to this kind of problem. But I have seen some sites where deterioration was setting-in and safeguards were prudent. In fact I was more than a little astonished to find how quickly steel-capped stairs could be worn away under constant foot traffic; and even granite, one of the harder stones known, begins to show significant wear under several thousand footfalls a day. So I would expect the authorities at those "delicate" sites to post appropriate notices about appropriate footwear & conduct, and then to simply turn away anyone who was not willing to read and heed those notices.

[at9]

The National Trust (a charity that looks after a lot of countryside and many old buildings in the UK) bans sharp heels from inside its properties. Look towards the bottom right of Page 1 of this leaflet which is typical of all NT properties. They usually define sharp heels as those covering an area smaller than a postage stamp. They offer protective slippers to those who have to remove their shoes.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-sudbury_welcome_leaflet_08.pdf

[Bubba136]

Has anyone here ever visited the Taj Mahal in Agra, India? As is the case with most Hindu and Muslim shrines, it is customary to remove your shoes before you enter. At the Taj Mahal, visitors are provided with a "croca sack" (burlap) type of bag to put on over their shoes to comply with age old religeous traditions. I don't find it unusual or "strange" to being asked to remove your footwear whenever attending a place of important historic or relegious importance.

[Dawn HH]

An alternative cheap type of footwear to be provided to visitors before entering would be much better than blatantly turning them away in my way of thinking. Cheers--- Dawn HH

[HHLover]

Make them wear some crocs!

[Bubba136]

Make them wear some crocs!

There are some places that are worth visiting.....no matter what you have on your feet.