It is also the country's most visited landmark. 'The Acropolis and its monuments are universal symbols of the classical spirit and civilization and form the greatest architectural and artistic complex bequeathed by Greek Antiquity to the world,' says the UNESCO listing for the site. It has not offered any reaction to the controversy. The University of Thessaloniki, which did not inform the culture ministry of the film's contents, risks being caught up in the investigation. Heading off questions regarding the level of surveillance of such sites, it said they suffered staffing problems because the finance ministry 'almost never approves the recruitment of guards'. The union representing those guarding the country's museums and archaeological sites expressed its 'outrage and shame' over what it called a 'vile film'. 'You can't do anything and everything in the name of activism.' 'As a Greek, I'm ashamed,' the president of the Greek Actors' Association, Spyros Bibilas, told broadcaster ANT1.
It was its appearance online last Friday that sparked the backlash. The 36-minute film was first shown to a small audience on December 16 at the University of Thessaloniki in the north of the country without provoking an outcry.