Tourist walk past the 5th century BC Erechtheion temple on the Acropolis Hill, with the city of Athens in the background on Tuesday, June 24, 2014. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Greece's famous Parthenon could be in danger of coming down 2,500 years after it was put up at the height of the Athenian Empire. Archaeologists have discovered "instability over quite a wide area" of the Acropolis, the flat-topped rock that holds the weight of the ancient structure, news.com.au reports, citing Greek news outlet ANA.
Archaeologists investigating the site after a rock of "considerable size" fell in January found the fault, which they now blame on rainwater pipes from an old Acropolis museum.
The scientists say plenty of restoration work will need to be added to that already being completed at Greece's most-visited tourist destination. Restoration work has been ongoing at the site despite Greece's recent trudge through a recession with the unemployment rate at 27%, the International Business Times reports.
As if one ailing monument isn't enough, activists also fear for Egypt's oldest pyramid. Shurbagy, a company hired to restore the 4,600-year-old Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara, is instead destroying it, say activists, who argue Shurbagy has built new walls and structures at the site in clear disregard of preservation laws that limit new construction to less than 5% of the restored structure.
UNESCO has asked for a detailed report on the restoration from the the Ministry of Antiquities, ABC News previously reported. (Archaeologists recently discovered the secret to the Egyptian pyramids' construction.)
This article originally appeared on Newser: The Acropolis Is Falling Apart
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