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Greece demands return of Parthenon Marbles from British Museum

DPA LIFE
Published November 24,2021
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The Parthenon Marbles, a collection of stone objects, inscriptions and sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, are displayed at the British Museum in London, October 16, 2014. (Reuters)

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has once again called for the return of the Parthenon Marbles from the British Museum in London.

Mitsotakis cited a survey, according to which 59 per cent of British people questioned are in favour of returning the collection of sculptures to Greece.

"It is time to do the right thing and reunite the Parthenon Sculptures in Athens. A move backed by the British people," Mitsotakis wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.

For decades, Athens has been demanding the return of the sculptures, which have been in the possession of the British Museum since 1816. The British side has so far refused to do so.

Real parts of the collection are exhibited together with plaster replicas of the missing elements in a museum built below the Acropolis in 2009, in Athens.

The Parthenon is one of the most famous surviving architectural monuments of ancient Greece.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the British ambassador, Lord Elgin, removed the best-preserved parts of the collection (the so-called Elgin Marbles) of the Parthenon and brought them to England. In 1816, Elgin sold the marbles to the museum.