Saturday night saw the lavish launch of the new Acropolis Museum at the base of the Parthenon as well as renewed call for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece.
The three million euro ceremony was attended by over 300 official guests, including European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura and foreign heads of state and government.
The launch of the Museum saw renewed call for the Parthenon Marbles to return to Greece. Greek President Karolos Papoulias said Greeks think of the Acropolis monuments as their “identity and pride,” and renewed the demand for the missing marble works, displayed in London for the past 200 years.
“The whole world can now see the most important sculptures from the Parthenon together,” Papoulias said. “Some are missing. It is time to heal the wounds on the monument by returning the marbles that belong to it.”
A highlight of the launch were the digital projections into the Athenian skies which saw ancient gods and centaurs come to life, horses, owls and deer dance across the sky and statues of ancient girls blink and toss their hair.