The full moon illuminates the sky over the Acropolis hill in Athens, capital of Greece, on August 24, 2010. [Xinhua/Marios Lolos]

"Amidst a global economic crisis that has also affected Greece, with this event which shows the best image of ancient and modern Greece, particularly this year we send the globe a message of optimism for the days and years to come and invite all citizens of the world to visit Acropolis," told Xinhua Giorgos Dimakakos, Head Guard of the Acropolis hill.

Approximately 10,000 to 15,000 people visit the Parthenon during August's full moon each year. The security challenge is great for Dimakakos and his colleagues, as he stressed, noting that on average 7,000 people visit the Acropolis hill every day. Almost two million people visit the most famous site of Greece every year.

The August full moon tradition was threatened with cancellation this summer due to the economic crisis that has hit Greece hard. Because of a pay dispute between the Ministry and guards at the archaeological sites over extra allowances for working overtime, Athenians and tourists faced the prospect of watching full moon away from the archaeological sites this year.

The Greek government was not willing to pay employees as much as in the past due to austerity measures and the guards were not willing to compromise for less. But the disagreement was solved with a deal to donate all the extra funds to a local non governmental organization which supports children and the tradition continued.