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Ancient wreath returns to Greece Ancient wreath returns to Greece
(about 24 hours later)
A spectacular golden wreath dating back to the 4th Century BC is due to go on display at the National Archaeology Museum in Greece. A spectacular golden Macedonian funerary wreath dating back to the 4th Century BC has gone on display at the National Archaeology Museum in Greece.
The Macedonian wreath was returned to Athens at the weekend by the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The wreath was returned to Athens at the weekend by the Getty Museum in Los Angeles after a 10-year battle to prove it was illegally excavated and sold.
Greece fought for 10 years to prove that it had been illegally spirited out of the country. It went back, along with a 6th Century BC marble statue, as the second stage of a deal to return four stolen items.
The restitution of the wreath is part of a campaign aimed at restoring the Elgin (or Parthenon) Marbles to Greece. A former Getty curator has been charged with trafficking stolen antiquities.
Now restored to its rightful home, the wreath is one of the most exquisite treasures in Greece. Marion True, who resigned from the museum in 2005, is facing criminal charges in both Italy and Greece over a series of artefacts bought between 1986 and the late 1990s, including bronze Etruscan pieces, frescoes, and painted Greek vessels.
It is a floral crown, a confection of realistic leaves and flowers made of gold foil attached to a slender headband 28cm (11in) in diameter. She has denied the charges against her.
It was probably made after the death of Alexander the Great and worn on ceremonial occasions. The golden wreath is one of the most exquisite treasures in Greece, the BBC's Malcolm Brabant reports from Athens. It is a floral crown of realistic leaves and flowers made of gold foil attached to a slender headband 28cm (11in) in diameter.
A 6th Century statue of a woman was also returned by the GettyIt was probably made after the death of Alexander the Great and worn on ceremonial occasions.
Experts believe it was buried with the remains of its owner in northern Greece.Experts believe it was buried with the remains of its owner in northern Greece.
The Getty Museum purchased the wreath from a Swiss dealer in 1993 for just over $1m (750,000 euros; £500,000).The Getty Museum purchased the wreath from a Swiss dealer in 1993 for just over $1m (750,000 euros; £500,000).
Last year, the Americans finally agreed to return their prized possession after the Greeks convinced them that it had been illegally excavated and smuggled out of the country.Last year, the Americans finally agreed to return their prized possession after the Greeks convinced them that it had been illegally excavated and smuggled out of the country.
The Getty's director, Michael Brand, told the BBC in a statement that everyone was saddened to see the wreath leaving, but that returning it to Greece was the correct action to take. The Getty's director, Michael Brand, told the BBC that everyone was saddened to see the wreath leaving, but that returning it to Greece was the correct action to take.
Elgin campaign A 5th Century BC engraved funeral marker - a stele - and a marble votive relief dating from about 490 BC were returned in August.
Greece hopes that other museums will now follow the Getty's example. Disputed marbles
In particular, it wants the British Museum in London to hand back the frieze known as the Elgin, or Parthenon, Marbles. As the wreath and statue of a woman's torso went on display in Athens, Greece's Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis used the event as a platform to renew Greek calls for the Elgin (or Parthenon) Marbles to return to Athens.
Greece claims they were stolen by Lord Elgin in 1801, but the British Museum insists that Lord Elgin legally obtained the Marbles from Greece's then rulers, the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Standing between the two treasures, Mr Karamanlis said that the return of these artefacts would strengthen calls for the return of the Parthenon marbles.
Moral pressure on Britain is due to increase later this year when Greece opens the new Acropolis Museum, complete with an empty space designed to show off the marbles in Aegean light, instead of what critics call "a gloomy cellar in London's Bloomsbury district". The marble frieze which once adorned the Parthenon Temple on top of Athens' Acropolis were acquired by Britain's Lord Elgin 200 years ago.
The 2,500-year-old sculptures depicting religious and mythological scenes have been held at the British Museum since 1816, despite ongoing Greek efforts to have them repatriated.
The British Museum insists the transaction was legal as he obtained permission to remove them from Greece's then rulers, the Ottoman Empire.
Athens' corrosive smog and acid rain has also been cited as a reason not to return them. But a new climatically controlled Acropolis Museum, with an entire wing set aside for the Elgin treasures is due to be completed soon.
Mr Karamanlis said that Greece had now fulfilled all the conditions for the Marbles' restitution.