Greece's plan for the UK to return the Parthenon Marbles

The Parthenon Marbles are on display in the British Museum. Photo: Reuters

Greece and the United Kingdom They continued to quarrel over a historical dispute involving the Parthenon Marbles on display in the British Museum. Lina Mendoni, the Greek Minister of Culture, spoke about her country's proposal to return the pieces and committed to it “cover the gap” This would remain if the British could accept the proposal.

One month after that failed bilateral meeting It was scheduled to be held on November 27 Between the prime ministers of the United Kingdom and Greece and was canceled hours ago by the British Rishi Sunak, the request to restore the “Parthenon Marbles” concluded the year with the “exchange” proposal that Mendoni mentioned in an interview with the British media. guardian.

The Parthenon Marbles are on display in the British Museum. Photo: Reuters

Mendoni stated in the interview that “Greece was willing to give up some of its greatest treasures in order to 'fill the void' in the British Museum if the Parthenon Marbles returned to Athens.”

The minister's statements reaffirm the campaign to restore works of art dating back to the fifth century BC, while stressing that her country's position is “clear” and that “if the sculptures return to Athens, Greece is ready to organize periodic exhibitions of important antiquities.”

Yes good There is no progress As for the objects that could replace them from an exhibition point of view, it is the first example of the potential compensation intended for the British Museum by reuniting the sculptures with the building from which Lord Eglin was not supposed to remove them in the 19th century. Which corresponds to “the most prominent features of the art of the classical Greek era.”

What's the deal about?

Greece Presents other acting works It will be renovated, to maintain “the interest of international visitors in the British Museum,” as Mendoni put it, although the display will be subject to what “Greek law on cultural heritage” stipulates.

The Parthenon Marbles are on display in the British Museum. Photo: Reuters

On the other side, guardian He notes that it is “a marked change from the attitude that dominated Europe's oldest cultural dispute” when both sides talk about a “partnership” to resolve the dispute that will be “win-win.”

Marble Parthenon Temple in Athens Built in honor of the goddess Athena in the 5th century BC, it was removed in controversial circumstances between 1801 and 1805 by Thomas Bruce (Lord Elgin), who was British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul, of which Greece was a part. that moment.

more than The conflict has been going on for 200 years and requests for Greece to repatriate marble in the possession of the British Museum, among other archaeological looting.

Greece insists that Elgin stole the marbles, while the UK maintains that its diplomat legally seized them when he ordered workers to uproot entire friezes from the Parthenon, when the permission given was to dismantle the pieces.

The Parthenon Marbles are on display in the British Museum. Photo: Reuters

Eglin He sold the marble to the British government in 1816, Who was destined to adorn his Scottish estate, having been left “devastated, despondent and suffering from syphilis,” as The Guardian had previously noted.

then The collection went to the British MuseumIt is a foundation that owns 75 meters of the 160-meter-long Parthenon frieze, as well as 15 sculptural panels and 17 arched figures.

For Mendoni, “The Parthenon, a World Heritage Monument, with its global importance…requires its integration into space.” [donde fueron talladas las esculturas] “And the reasons that led to its creation,” The Guardian reported.

The chosen path is “dialogue and cultural diplomacy,” according to the minister in response to a question about the possibility of Greece taking legal measures against the museum, as happens in other cases.