Parthenon facade restored to early 1800s pomp, says Greece - EUROPE SAYS
Greece’s culture ministry on Thursday said it had finished a lengthy restoration of the western facade of the Parthenon in Athens, re-creating the world-famous monument’s early 1800s look. The 2,500-year-old. . .
Greece’s culture ministry on Thursday said it had finished a lengthy restoration of the western facade of the Parthenon in Athens, re-creating the world-famous monument’s early 1800s look. The 2,500-year-old temple honouring the goddess Athena, which sits on a hill overlooking the Greek capital, is visited by more than four million people each year. “Today, we look upon the west pediment of the Parthenon as we have not seen it for two centuries,” Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said in a statement. “For the first time in about 220 years, the west side of the Parthenon is presented by the ministry of culture in its fullest possible form… the sight is truly overwhelming. ”The ministry said a team of archaeologists, engineers and craftsmen had used both surviving ancient fragments and new marble to fill gaps and strengthen the monument’s western facade. “It is a project of exceptional difficulty,” Mendoni said. According to the ministry, the temple is now the closest it can get to the period immediately after around half of its surviving statues were removed on the orders of Lord Elgin, British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. These statues are now in the British Museum in London. Britain insists the works were legally acquired and successive governments have noted that the issue is up to the museum to decide. Under chairman George Osborne, a former finance minister, the British Museum has been engaged in long talks with Greek officials on a formula that would allow the marbles to be displayed in Athens. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has also repeatedly sought to raise the issue with his British counterparts. Parthenon sculpture fragments are also kept in museums in Paris, Copenhagen, Munich, Vienna and Wurzburg. Source: AAP