New Acropolis Museum opens

ATHENS: The new Acropolis Museum officially opened to visitors on Saturday in Athens, with calls for the return of the Classical Parthenon marbles to Greek soil.

The marbles were removed in 1806 by Lord Elgin, British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire when it ruled Greece, and have remained in British hands for more than 200 years, Greek Minister of Culture Antonis Samaras said.

"Until the missing marbles are back, all people, Greeks and non Greek alike, who visit this museum will feel great pride and great anguish when they walk up to the Parthenon Gallery and see the inspiring sculptures from the temple interspersed with the replicas of the pieces in the British Museum," Samaras said.

British Museum officials have rebuffed repeated Greek requests for the return of the 2,500-year-old marbles, referred to as "Elgin Marbles".

"It's time to heal the wounds of the monument with the return of the marbles where they belong," Greek President Karolos Papoulias said.

One of the arguments surrounding Britain's claim to the marbles was that Greece did not have the proper space and environment in which to display ancient sculptures. The dedication of this new museum renders that excuse hollow, Samaras said.

Covering a total area of 25,000 square meters, the museum has ten times more exhibition space than the previous museum on the Hill of the Acropolis.

The new museum can also accommodate the marble structures, which need to be protected from pollution. The museum built 200 years ago could not fulfill this task, said Christos Failadi, press and communication counselor for the Greek embassy in China.

Consisting of three levels, the base of the museum design "hovers" over the existing archaeological excavation. The middle is a large, trapezoidal hall that accommodates galleries from the archaic to roman period. The top features the rectangular Parthenon Gallery arranged around an indoor court.

A unique feature of the museum is the 160-meter-long frieze wrapped around the central core of the gallery. On the frieze, Greek originals stand alongside white-plaster copies of the Parthenon sculpture sections that were removed by the British.

"We cannot dedicate the museum with full hearts," Samaras said. "We cannot illuminate fully the artistic achievement created in 5th century Athens, because almost half of the sculptures from the Parthenon were taken 207 years ago to reside in enforced exile 4,000 km away."

China Daily

(China Daily 06/22/2009 page8)