Greece rejects British Museum's loan offer for disputed marbles

Jun 11, 2009, 16:36 GMT

Athens - Less than a week before the inauguration of the New Acropolis Museum, Greece on Thursday turned down a British Museum's offer to loan the long-disputed Parthenon Marbles.

The marbles are a 160-metre long strip of marble that adorned the Parthenon until 1801, before being removed and shipped to Britain. Ownership of the sculptures has been in dispute ever since.

In an interview with Greek radio broadcaster Skai on Wednesday, British Museum spokesperson Hannah Boulton said the museum could consider loaning the marbles to Greece for a period of three months.

She said that Greece would first have to recognize the museum's ownership rights to the sculptures.

In reaction, Greek Culture Minister Antonis Samaras said Thursday that the government turned down the British Museum's offer.

'Accepting this is tantamount to legalizing the snatching of the marbles and the carving up of the monument 207 years ago,' Samaras said in a written statement.

He said Greece would be willing to loan other antiquities to the British Museum 'to fill the gap when the marbles are returned to the country they belong.'

Located at the foot of the ancient Acropolis in Athens, the new 20,000-square-metre museum was planned as the new home for the marbles.

Greece will mark the opening of the new museum on with a weeklong party starting July 20. The date comes nearly three decades after the building was first proposed.

The new 120-million-euro (160-million-dollar) museum is the Greek government's key argument for the return of the Parthenon, or Elgin, marbles from Britain.

Lord Elgin, the British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, removed the friezes from the temple when Athens was under Ottoman occupation some 200 years ago.

They were then sold to the British Museum, which has since refused to relinquish the sculptures, insisting the transaction was legal. The sculptures include depictions of religious and mythological scenes.

London has long argued that Athens lacks a proper display space to ensure the safety and preservation for the priceless antiquities.

The Greek government, it appears, is set to prove them wrong.

Designed by New York architect Bernard Tschumi to offer visitors direct visual contact with the Parthenon temple itself, the entire top-floor gallery of the new museum offers a simultaneous view of the frieze and the ancient site.

The top-floor gallery fits the exact dimensions of the Parthenon temple and its 115 panels. Greece only possesses 36 of them, but will display replicas of the rest.

The government is hoping to attract 2,500 visitors during the first three days after the opening.