Greece‘s culture ministry will open up some of the debt-stricken country’s most-cherished archaeological sites to advertising firms and other ventures.

The ministry says the move is a common-sense way of helping “facilitate” access to the country’s ancient Greek ruins, and money generated would fund the upkeep and monitoring of sites. The first site to be opened would be the Acropolis.

A commercial firm could rent the Acropolis for a professional photographic shoot for as little as $2,000 a day. Demonstrators could also rent the ancient landmark.

The Ministry of Culture insists that strict conditions will be imposed on those wanting to rent the sites but archaeologists fear that the scheme could cause irreparable damage to these priceless sites.

Greece needs every euro it can get. The country’s public coffers are drained and the nation is struggling to avoid a historic debt default in March.

Source: AFP