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In a ceremony in which pieces of the Parthenon were installed on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called for the return of the parts of the monument that remain mostly in the British Museum in London. According to Mitsotakis, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson would be in a position to reach an agreement to return them.
The debate on the return of the Greek sculptures of the Parthenon by the United Kingdom, is still open. Regarding the return of ten exhibits that were in the National Archaeological Museum, the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, sent a strong message to the British.
“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 said from the Parthenon.
The return of the pieces that have been exhibited in the British Museum since the beginning of the 20th century, “is a request from UNESCO and a request from most of the public opinion also in the United Kingdom,” stressed the Greek Prime Minister. .
According to Mitsotakis, his British counterpart, Boris Johnson, with whom he had a recent meeting “personally understands” the problem. “Having received classical studies himself and being a fan of ancient Greece, I am sure that he will not block any possible future deals, lifting any possible political obstruction.”
He also concluded by saying that the British Government would modify “the law on museums to facilitate the reunification of the Parthenon sculptures.”
Fragments of the Parthenon sold to the UK
This Monday ten pieces belonging to the frieze, the metopes and the pediments of the Parthenon were installed, only one of them is authentic and is exhibited in the Acropolis Museum, the rest are in the Louvre Museum, in Paris.
The other fragments were sent in the 19th century to the United Kingdom, at the time when the ambassador of the Ottoman Empire, Thomas Bruce, who claimed to be a lover of antiquities, obtained permission from the Sultan and took part of the metopes and the frieze interior of the Parthenon.
Lord Englib, as Bruce was known, sold the pieces to the UK for £ 35,000. Since 1939 they have been exhibited in the British Museum. The pieces that are part of the current Parthenon exhibition are copies.
Lina Mendoni, the Greek Minister of Culture said that the return of the pieces is not only a symbolic act, but “absolutely essential” for Greece, in its fight to achieve the repatriation of all the Parthenon sculptures.
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