After 2,500 years, the remnants of the Athenian Acropolis, though recently rehabilitated to the highest modern conservation standards, will inevitably continue to suffer hastened deterioration due to the city's highly acidic atmospheric pollution. Back in the mid-1800s, modern Athens was a graceful low-scale environment of classically inspired vernacular architecture set in tune with the stylistic traditions of ancient Greek buildings. In the 20th century, this lovely cityscape was subsumed by a vast agglomeration of shoddy speculative development, urban sprawl, illegal settlement, and industrial and automotive pollution—all together noxious for the eternal structures hovering atop the city at its treasured center.