Greece welcomes Vatican's return of Parthenon fragments to Acropolis

Greece has welcomed the return of historic artefacts from the Acropolis, furthering a marketing campaign to press the British Museum handy again a set of sculptures taken from the traditional web site in Athens greater than 200 years in the past.

Greek Tradition Minister Lina Mendoni led a ceremony Friday for the repatriation of three sculpture fragments – representing a horse and two male heads – from the Parthenon temple on the Acropolis which had been stored on the Vatican Museums.

The fragments can be added to the gathering on the Acropolis Museum.

Renewed stress on British Museum

The Vatican known as the return an ecumenical “donation” to Greece’s Orthodox Church, however the gesture added stress on the UK to succeed in a settlement with Greece following a long-running marketing campaign launched by Athens 40 years in the past.

The Tradition Minister mentioned Greece could be keen to lend the British Museum historic Greek artefacts for exhibition to “fill the hole" if it returned the gathering referred to as the Elgin Marbles.

Carved within the fifth century BC, the sculptures from the Parthenon have been taken within the early nineteenth century by British diplomat Lord Elgin earlier than Greece gained independence from the Ottoman Empire.

Greece argues that the Parthenon sculptures are on the core of its historic heritage, whereas supporters of the British Museum keep that their return may undermine museum collections and cultural variety globally.

Tradition Ministry officers in Greece have performed down remarks made final month by British Museum chair George Osborne that the UK and Greece have been engaged on an association to show the Parthenon Marbles in each London and Athens.

Final yr one other marble sculptural fragment from the Parthenon temple – depicting a foot of the traditional Greek goddess Artemis – was returned to Athens from a museum in Palermo, Sicily.

Bishop Brian Farrell, a Vatican secretary for selling Christian unity, headed the visiting delegation to Athens and mentioned the return of the three fragments from the Vatican had been mentioned throughout a go to to Athens by Pope Francis in 2021.