Greece Seeks to Stem More Losses by Renting Out Famous Landmarks

It’s no secret that Greece has been a little strapped for cash lately. Now the country is steeping to a new low: exploiting its rich culture and historical architecture, pimping it out to the likes of Hollywood to raise some cash toward paying its bills and lifting its crippled economy out of the toilet.

Greece is serving up a plate of their famous historical landmarks, including the Acropolis, the temple of Delphi, and the Parthenon, offering them as backdrops for films, commercials, and photo-shoots for just over $2000 a day. The cultural minister is seemingly prepared for backlash, promising discretion in selection, but the plan is not tracking well, as many of these landmarks rank just below holy ground for many.

It gets better: the brain-trust behind this idea isn’t Greece herself, but rather the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, who have long been pressuring Greece to swallow its pride, pull itself up by its bootstraps, and capitalize capitalize capitalize.

It’s not entirely unprecedented either: The 2,500 year old Acropolis has been rented out twice for this type of thing. Once, to to Francis Ford Coppola, and again for a sequel to My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

The idea is for all of the revenues to fund the Greek Ministry of Culture, whose budget has been slashed 30% since 2010.

So has Greece lost the last of its integrity, or is this a pretty savvy business plan after all? Leave us your thoughts in the comments below.