The new lift will serve people with mobility issues

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday inaugurated a new elevator installed at a slope of the famed Acropolis hill and specially designed pathways to make the 2,500-year-old monuments more accessible to people with disabilities and the elderly.

"Today, December 3, on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we inaugurate the new elevator and the routes which have been designed with great care in order to make the Acropolis accessible to all," he said in a statement broadcast on Greek national broadcaster ERT.

Accessibility for all everywhere is at the heart of the government's National Plan for the Rights of People with Disabilities, Mitsotakis said.

The new lift replaces one which was installed ahead of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, which often reported mechanical failures.

The new pathways upgrade the route that was paved five decades ago, making the Holy Rock easily accessible to the disabled and other people with mobility and health issues, the Culture and Sports Ministry noted in an e-mailed press release.

The Acropolis is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens. It contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historic significance, the most famous being the Parthenon.