ATHENS – Reversing itself, Greece’s powerful Central Archaeological Council (KAS) said a hotel blocking a view of the Acropolis must demolish its top two floors, after the board had allowed it to be built.

KAS is the country’s top advisory body on the protection of antiquities and overturned its previous ruling after a long meeting, said Kathimerini, ruling in favor of the razing of the hotel that was built in the central Athens district of Makriyianni.

That came after a furious campaign by local residents protesting they couldn’t fully see the famed hill and the Parthenon although it wasn’t explained why KAS couldn’t determine that earlier or if it had seen schematics showing the view would be blocked.

The 10-floor COCO-MAT Athens BC on Falirou Street has been operating for a year but it wasn’t said how the demolition would be carried or or when or why it was allowed to be built at that height in the first place.

Following the protests last year, the Environment Ministry suspended all building licenses in the area around the Acropolis in February 2019. In November, the Council of State cancelled the hotel’s building licenses.

The administrative court also upheld an appeal by residents in Makriyianni against a pre-approved building license for a nine-story hotel on Misaraliotou Street that also blocks the public's view of the Parthenon. Construction for the second hotel has not started yet.