The secret of great strength has the Parthenon on the earthquake 2,500 years to investigate Japanese and Greek scientists. The operation starts in November and is estimated to last three years and lead to useful conclusions for the construction of modern buildings safer. Unlike most big temples and monuments of Greece almost flattened due to destructive earthquakes, the marble Parthenon and other buildings of the Acropolis are left in place for 25 centuries and the damage suffered by them is minimal: the architectural shift within a few centimeters dilapidated, snaps and dropping stones restored thanks to major restoration projects.
When the earthquake columns oscillate in all directions, but have tremendous flexibility and back in place. Experts explain such specificity as a result of manufacturing excellence of the church, consisting of 13,400 marble architectural fragments, which are connected to each other without joints, with iron links of various shapes and wooden poles and Ebola. The pillars consist of deformed vertebrae and behave "chaotically", but achieve "smart" damping of seismic energy.
"The focus of research on the Parthenon is precisely the flexible construction of the columns that are considered a key factor in ensuring stability throughout the construction," explains lead researcher Professor Tosikazou Chanazato Japanese, one of the leading specialists in seismology, which will work with the Greek Ministry of Culture and the Technical University.
"I have no doubt that the ancient temple of Athena keep the secret of the best craftsmanship to deal with earthquakes," says Japanese professor in an interview to the newspaper «La Repubblica». Mr. Chanazato has already proven in Japan that the flexibility given by the simple combination of several layers of wood explain the resistance posed by multi-storey pagodas in Japan to strong earthquakes. Now he hopes to find the Parthenon, the perfect seismic building in the past, the secret to the perfect building for the future.
"High quality design"
"The Parthenon must first of its protracted and the strength of the earthquake in the very high manufacturing quality and pure ingredients," says Costas Zambia, a civil engineer and designer of the Parthenon.
"This is incredible construction quality and accuracy was maintained skeleton today despite various hardships suffered by the building.
The columns, which are not tied together, but it is resting freely, and freely shifting behave favorably earthquake. Rocking, moving beyond the test back, showing only tiny, negligible shifts. There have been many comments and a lot of research. The single column has a good seismic data as well as the entire building is a joint, construction depends mainly on one factor: how good is full of seating. The ancients achieved full seating of the vertebrae, which is very difficult if we calculate that the diameter is close to two meters.
Destructive earthquakes of antiquity
426 BC: Shortly after the construction of the Parthenon (447-438 BC), ancient people lived in one of the most devastating earthquake centered on Atalanta, resulting in the southeastern part of the church.
373 BC: a terrible earthquake hit near the city of Helice in Egio and destroyed it completely. This was followed by a large wave (tsunami) and the city sank into the sea 226 BC: A strong earthquake demolished the foundation of the Colossus of Rhodes.
856 AD: Earthquake in Corinth destroyed the city. It had 40,000 casualties.
