Bacterial Deterioration of Marble Monuments: A Case Study of the Conservation Project of Acropolis Monuments

The deterioration of the Acropolis monuments' surface can be attributed to a combination of mechanical, physical, chemical and biological factors. The aim of this work was to investigate the potential use of biocides suitable for marble surface in order to confront the biodeterioration phenomenon due to heterotrophic bacteria. Surface bacterial populations were studied in respect to the application of three biocide agents. A significant decrease of the bacterial counts was occurred after the biocides' application and remained less compared with the counts occurred on the untreated surfaces for more than 14 months. A gradual diminution of bacterial diversity was also observed leading to the survival of specific Gram positive strains.