Greeks Push for Return of Elgin Marbles

New Museum Holds a Place for Pieces 'Held Hostage' in London

ATHENS -- Greek President Carolos Papoulias ramped up pressure on Britain over the weekend to return priceless statues from antiquity taken more than 200 years ago. His comments came as the new Acropolis Museum opened in Athens.

The Greek leader reiterated his country's longstanding call for the return of the Elgin Marbles at the solemn ceremony Saturday to inaugurate the giant $180 million glass-and-concrete building.

"Today the whole world can see the most important sculptures of the Parthenon assembled, but some are missing; it's time to heal the wounds of the monument with the return of the marbles which belong to it," Papoulias said.

The government says the museum, which dominates downtown Athens under the Parthenon temple, is the physical embodiment of a campaign dating from 1983.

"It's our identity and our pride," Papoulias said of the new facility.

The museum, which had its origins in British gibes that Greece would have nowhere to display the statues if ever they were returned, was designed to host the reunited artworks.

Greek Culture Minister Antonis Samaras said late last week during a special opening for the media that the new museum space "now demolishes that excuse."

About half of the works -- 5th-century B.C. Greek sculptures, inscriptions and architectural columns from the Parthenon and other buildings on the symbolic Acropolis hill -- are intact in the museum.

Of the remainder, most are held in London's British Museum after they were hacked away in the early 1800s on the orders of a British aristocrat and diplomat, Lord Elgin, under a deal with the ruling Ottoman Empire.

Replicas have been erected in the new galleries.

Heads of state and government and cultural emissaries from 30 countries, including U.N. heritage chief Koichiro Matsuura and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, attended the gala opening, albeit held five years late -- it was originally due to open around the Athens Olympic Games.

The event was staged by Dimitris Papaioannou, the creator of the Athens Olympics Opening Ceremonies, as a celebration of Greek antiquity and broadcast on public television.