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Greece unveils Acropolis Museum Greece urges return of sculptures
(about 4 hours later)
The long-awaited Acropolis Museum in Athens has been opened. Greek President Karolos Papoulias has renewed his country's call for Britain to return sculptures removed from the Parthenon in Athens 200 years ago.
The modern glass and concrete building, at the foot of the ancient Acropolis, houses sculptures from the golden age of Athenian democracy. At the opening of the Acropolis Museum, Mr Papoulias said it was "time to heal the wounds" of the ancient temple.
The £110m ($182m; 130m euros) structure also offers panoramic views of the stone citadel where they came from. The new museum, opened five years behind schedule, houses sculptures from the golden age of Athens.
Culture minister Antonis Samaras said he hoped it would be the "catalyst" for the return of the Parthenon sculptures from the British Museum. Britain has repeatedly refused to return dozens of 2,500-year-old marble friezes housed in the British Museum.
Some of the sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, originally decorated the Parthenon temple and have been in London since they were sold to the museum in 1817. "Today the whole world can see the most important sculptures of the Parthenon assembled, but some are missing," said Mr Papoulias.
"It's time to heal the wounds of the monument with the return of the marbles which belong to it."
'International context'
The sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, originally decorated the Parthenon temple and have been in London since they were sold to the museum in 1817 by Lord Elgin.
He had them removed from the temple when he was visiting Greece, then under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.
After several adventures, obstructions and criticism, the new Acropolis Museum is ready Antonis Samaras In pictures: Acropolis Museum Museum raises Marbles' hopesAfter several adventures, obstructions and criticism, the new Acropolis Museum is ready Antonis Samaras In pictures: Acropolis Museum Museum raises Marbles' hopes
The museum has long argued that Greece has no proper place to put them - an argument the Greek government hopes the Acropolis Museum addresses. The British Museum long argued that Greece had no proper place to put them - an argument the Greek government hopes the Acropolis Museum addresses.
Mr Samaras said: "After several adventures, obstructions and criticism, the new Acropolis Museum is ready: a symbol of modern Greece that pays homage to its ancestors, the duty of a nation to its cultural heritage." The opening ceremony was attended by heads of state and government and cultural envoys from about 30 countries, the UN and the EU.
The building, set out over three levels, holds about 350 artefacts and sculptures that were previously held in a small museum on top of the Acropolis. There were no government officials from Britain, but the most senior British guest, Bonnie Greer, the deputy head of the board of trustees of the British Museum, said she believed more strongly than ever that the marbles should remain in London.
Antique ceramics and sculptures are displayed on the first floor while the Caryatids - columns sculpted as females holding up the roof of a porch on the southern side of the Erechtheum temple - dominate the top of a glass ramp leading up the second floor. She argued that in London they are displayed in an international cultural context.
She said a loan was possible, but that would require Greece to acknowledge British ownership, something Greece refuses.
The British Museum holds 75m of the original 160m of the frieze that ran round the inner core of the building.
'Act of barbarism''Act of barbarism'
Sculptures from the Temple of Athena and the Propylaea entrance to the Acropolis will be displayed on the second floor, while the third features a reconstruction of the Parthenon Marbles. Their reconstruction in the Acropolis Museum is based on several elements that remain in Athens, as well as copies of the marbles in London.
The modern glass and concrete building, at the foot of the Acropolis, holds about 350 artefacts and sculptures from the golden age of Athens that were previously held in a small museum on top of the Acropolis.
The structure is Greece's answer to the British argument that there is nowhere in their country to house the Elgin marbles Razia Iqbal, BBC arts correspondent Read Razia's blogThe structure is Greece's answer to the British argument that there is nowhere in their country to house the Elgin marbles Razia Iqbal, BBC arts correspondent Read Razia's blog
The reconstruction is based on several elements that remain in Athens as well as copies of the marbles still housed in the British Museum. The £110m ($182m; 130m euros) structure, set out over three levels, also offers panoramic views of the stone citadel where they came from.
The London institution holds 75 metres of the original 160 metres of the frieze that ran round the inner core of the building. The third floor features the reconstruction of the Parthenon Marbles.
It has repeatedly rejected calls for their return saying they are displayed in an international cultural contest. The copies are differentiated by their white colour - because they are plaster casts, contrasting with the weathered marble of the originals.
"I think they belong to all of us - we are all global citizens these days," spokeswoman Hannah Boulton said.
The copies of those held in the British Museum are differentiated by their white colour - because they are plaster casts, contrasting with the weathered marble of the originals.
Museum director Prof Dimitris Pandermalis said the opening of the museum provides an opportunity to correct "an act of barbarism" in the sculptures' removal.Museum director Prof Dimitris Pandermalis said the opening of the museum provides an opportunity to correct "an act of barbarism" in the sculptures' removal.
"Tragic fate has forced them apart but their creators meant them to be together," he said."Tragic fate has forced them apart but their creators meant them to be together," he said.
Bernard Tschumi, the building's US-based architect, said: "It is a beautiful space that shows the frieze itself as a narrative - even with the plaster copies of what is in the British Museum - in the context of the Parthenon itself."Bernard Tschumi, the building's US-based architect, said: "It is a beautiful space that shows the frieze itself as a narrative - even with the plaster copies of what is in the British Museum - in the context of the Parthenon itself."