A British organization has its mind set on quite a bold proposal: carve giant replicas of the Parthenon Marbles into Mount Penteli, Attica’s second-highest mountain, aiming to make Greece home of its own Mount Rushmore, Ta Nea daily reports.
The monumental project is the brainchild of Oxford-based Institute for Digital Archaeology (IDA), which hopes to turn the historic mountain in Athens into a cultural and visual landmark, with the help of a state-of-the art sculpting robot.
Our biggest project yet? Giving Greece its own 'Mt Rushmore' will show the world that the Marbles are forever inseparable from the Greek cultural landscape. https://t.co/aqgB7KpkzV pic.twitter.com/nq8RVRdph6
— Digital Archaeology (@DigiArchaeo) April 13, 2025
The inspiration for this imaginative project comes from the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota in the United States, where the faces of four iconic American presidents -George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt- are carved into granite.
“Mount Rushmore is one of the most beloved monuments in the United States. But it’s more than that. It symbolizes how the values those presidents represent are intertwined with the very landscape of the country,” Roger Michel, Director of IDA and Fellow at Trinity College, tells Ta Nea. “That got me thinking: what if we created a Greek version to send a similarly powerful message?”
Michel says the project could kick off with the carving of the horse’s head from Selene’s chariot, which they plan to carve directly into Mount Penteli, using authentic Pentelic Marble. The sculptural replica of the famous horse’s head would be about 17 meters tall, so massive, that Michel says it would be seen from space.
‘Initially, we thought about sculpting most of it in a workshop and assembling it on the mountain. But we’re planning a site inspection to determine the best method. It might actually be more practical to do the carving on site,” Michel adds.
The estimated timeline for the completion is 18 months, with just three months needed for the actual carving. The cost stands at one million euros ($1.1 million), which IDA says it’s willing to fund independently. This is a dramatic contrast to the original Mount Rushmore in the United States, which took 14 years and 400 workers to complete.
The message of Greece’s Mount Rushmore would be that “the Parthenon Sculptures are the essence of Greece,” Michel says. “Their beauty, grace and symbolism are deeply rooted in the nation’s cultural identity and even its natural landscape. Nothing better represents Greek values than these sculptures.”
The Institute for Digital Archaeology will soon formally request permission from the Greek government to launch the project.
How will the Parthenon sculptures be carved on what is set to be the Greek Mount Rushmore
The IDA has already made headlines with previous Parthenon-related stunts. In April 2023, the institute crafted a microscopic version of the horse’s head from Selene chariot, using two-photon lithography. Just 19 micrometers long and invisible to the naked eye, it was secretely placed inside the nostril of the original sculpture at the British Museum’s Duveen Gallery.
“After making the smallest replica in the world, let’s now create the biggest!” Michel says.
He explains that the Institute has recently developed a mobile version of their robot sculptor, which can create large-scale works anywhere in the world. By taking the robot up Mount Penteli, they’ll be able to fine-tune the sculpture on-site without needing to transport pieces back and forth.
They’re considering three options: complete the entire sculpture on the mountain, do all the work in the lab or use a hybrid approach -start in the workshop and finish it on-site.
“In any case, the result will be identical to the original,” Michel adds.
If the project goes ahead, tourism is expected to soar with millions flocking to see it from both Europe and around the world.
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