Glenn Maffia: Well, the news issued this week came straight out of the blue! An exchange program for the owners of those derelict builds around the Temple of Apollo, and the stated aim of demolition for those deemed illegal.

The map in their hands
I would certainly like to claim some credit, though I would be delusional if I were to believe that anyone would even begin to listen to a foreigner in this town.

Anyway, the message appears to have emanated from a higher authority, though I do know that all of the interested parties involved have either seen or been aware of the archaeological orientated ‘Apollo Temple Guide’.

I personally placed the map into many of their hands.

Merchants out of the Temple
Though my ‘fifteen minutes of fame’ is neither here nor there, what is important is that a new epoch in the history of the Temple may soon be beginning.

One that is no longer being strangled by the ever encroaching creep of crass commercialism and unfortunate occupants of the dishevelled shanty homes; they’ve had twenty years or more of their unchecked abuse of legality.

They have neither seen the adverse effect to which they have blighted this glorious monument upon the visitors who venture to this archaeological site, nor the abject apathy in that they merely perceive the Temple as a tourist trap into which they can lure the visitors into their money-voracious dens of iniquity.

Application of muscle
I have a close friend, who does have a shop in the vicinity, who told me a couple of years ago that plans to move those commercial premises off the archaeological site have been aired from time to time over many number of years.

Now, it appears that some muscle in the form of the Ministry of Culture is now being applied. And about time too.

I have already informed members of the German Archaeological Institute and the British Museum. Due to all the colossal work and sweat they have expended over so many fruitful digging seasons, I do hope the former are consulted.