On the occasion of the return of ten fragments to the Acropolis Museum, the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, requested the return of all the Parthenon sculptures , especially from the UK.
“The reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures is not a question of distance because, whether they are here in Athens or in any other part of the world, their destination can only be the Sacred Rock (the Acropolis) and this great museum, ”Mitsotakis pointed out from the Parthenon Hall.
The Prime Minister stressed that the return of the pieces found in the British Museum “is a request from UNESCO and a request from the most of the public opinion also in the United Kingdom. ”
Mitsotakis added that this is a question that the British Prime Minister “understands personally.” or Boris Johnson, with whom he exchanged views at their recent meeting.
Regarding Johnson, he stressed: “Having received classical studies himself and being a fan of ancient Greece, I am sure that he will not block any possible future agreement, lifting any possible political obstruction. ”
“ If necessary, Mitsotakis concluded on Johnson’s predisposition, modifying the British law on museums to facilitate the reunification of the Parthenon sculptures¨.
Pieces and fragments of Greek culture in various countries
The ten fragments installed today along with the rest of the pieces, until now conserved in the Archaeological Museum National in Athens, they come from the Friesian, the metopes and the pediments of the Parthenon.
One of them, the obedient part of a young head, is connected with the figure of the second left supervisor of the Panathenaic procession, represented in the stone VII of the eastern frieze and it is the only fragment of the authentic stone in the Acropolis Museum, since the rest is in the Louvre Museum, in Paris.
The Greek Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, present at the event, highlighted that the return of these pieces is not only symbolic , but also “absolutely essential” , as part of Greece’s fight for the repatriation of all the Parthenon sculptures.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the marbles traveled to the United Kingdom when the British ambassador of the Ottoman Empire, Thomas Bruce, better known as Lord Elgin, who defined himself as a lover of antiquities, got permission from the Sultan to take part of the metopes and the inner frieze of the Parthenon.
He sold it to his Government for 35, 000 pounds and from 1939 these jewels are exhibited in the British Museum, while the Acropolis Museum only exhibits copies.
With information from DW.