After much anticipation, the Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece has finally opened.  The $180 million Acropolis museum, which was supposed to open five years ago to coincide with the Athens Olympic Games, is home to about half of the Parthenon Marbles.  Also known as the Elgin Marbles, they are a collection of classical Greek Marble Sculptures, inscriptions and architectural members that originally belonged to the Partheon and other buildings on the Acropolis of Athens. Yet with of the remaining marbles still being held at  London’s British Museum, the people of Greece are demanding that their priceless statues are returned.

The six remaining Parthenon marbles have been in the London Museum for over 200 years following a deal with the then ruling Ottoman Empire and under the orders of a British aristocrat and diplomat, Lord Elgin. Whilst Greece extended its invitation to the British Museum Officials to attending the opening, the British museum has so far refused to return the marbles.  In an attempt to bring the remaining Parthenon Marbles home, Greece has called for ‘’everyone around the world who believes in the values and ideas that emerged on the slopes of the Acropolis to join our quest to bring the missing Parthenon marbles home.’’

Whilst the British Museum is adamant that the Marbles should remain at the Duveen Gallery, where they are viewed by over 5 million visitors a year, 3 out of 4 Britons believe that the marbles should be returned to Greece. Whether this will be realized anytime soon, only time will tell

YOUR COMMENTS
Have you been to the British Museum / Athens?  Do you think the  Marbles should remain in Britain or be returned to the UK?

Sources
BBC – Elgin Marbles Campaign Launches – Read full article here
7-Days – Give us back our Marbles – Read full article here
The Times - The Acropolis Museum opens in Athens – Read full article here