The Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, took advantage of Monday to requested the return of ten fragments to the Acropolis Museum, until now on display at the National Archaeological Museum, and thus sent an echoing message asking for the return of all the Parthenon statues.
“The reunification of the Parthenon Statue is not a matter of distance because, whether they are here in Athens or anywhere else in the world, your goal can only be the Holy Stone (Acropolis) and this magnificent museum”Mitsotakis pointed from the Parthenon Room.
The prime minister stressed that the return of the pieces found at the British Museum “This is a request from UNESCO and a request from the majority of public opinion in the UK as well.”
Mitsotakis added that it’s about issues that the British Prime Minister “understands personally”, Boris Johnson, with whom he exchanged glances at their recent meeting.
Regarding Johnson, he emphasized: After he accepted classical studies and became an amateur of ancient Greece, I’m sure it won’t block a possible deal in the future, lifting any possible political barriers.”
“If necessary,” Mitsotakis concluded of Johnson’s tendencies. modifying British museum laws to facilitate the reunification of the Parthenon¨ statue.
Ten fragments were installed today along with the rest of the pieces, until now kept in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, derived from Friesian, Parthenon metope and pediment.
One of them, the top of the young head, is connected with the figure of the second left overseer of the Panathenaic procession, represented on stone VII of the eastern decoration and it is the only original stone fragment in the Acropolis Museum, because the rest is in the Louvre Museum, in Paris.
Greece’s Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, who was present at the event, stressed that the return of these pieces was not only symbolic, but also “very important”, because part of the Greek struggle for the repatriation of all statues of the Parthenon.
In the early 19th century, marbles traveled to England when the British ambassador from the Ottoman Empire, Thomas Bruce, better known as Lord Elgin, who defined himself as a lover of antiques, he got permission from the sultan to take part in the metope and interior decoration of the Parthenon.
He sold it to his Government for 35,000 pounds and since 1939 this gem has been on display at the British Museum, while The Acropolis Museum only exhibits copies.
“Problem solver. Proud twitter specialist. Travel aficionado. Introvert. Coffee trailblazer. Professional zombie ninja. Extreme gamer.”
