The most complete information guide about Athens, Greece
The
New Acropolis Museum
The design by New Yorker Bernard Tschumi, born 25 January 1944
in Lauzanne, Switzerland, in partnership with the Athens architect
Michael Photiadis, was selected as the winning project in the
second competition for the design of the new Acropolis museum.
This new Acropolis museum is under construction at the southern
base of the Acropolis, at the ancient road (Dionysiou Areopagitou
street) that led up to the "sacred rock" in classical
times. Set only 250 meter
(800 feet) from the Parthenon, the museum is the most significant
building ever erected so close to the ancient temple..
Although the return of the Parthenon marbles from the British
Museum is not guaranteed, the design includes a rectangular glass
gallery that will display the Parthenon
marbles with the precise geometry and harmonious dimensions
(21x58 meters – 68.9x190.3 ft) of the columned Parthenon.
Visitors to the museum will be able to see the Parthenon
from the glass gallery.
The base of the museum contains an entrance
lobby overlooking the Makrygianni excavations as well as temporary
exhibition spaces, retail and all support facilities. A wide ramp
leads up to the first floor. Transparent sections in the ramp's
floor allow visitors to see the exposed archaeological remains
below that were found during the preparation of the site.
Along the sides of the ramp, and as free-standing installations,
there will be artifacts recovered from the Sanctuary of the
Nymphs, the Sanctuary of Asklepeios and elsewhere on the slopes
of the Acropolis. The middle is a large, double-height trapezoidal
plate that accommodates all galleries from the Archaic period
to the Roman Empire. There will be a multimedia auditorium and
a mezzanine bar and restaurant with view on the Acropolis.
On top is the rectangular Parthenon gallery around an outdoor
court. The glass enclosure, with a direct view of the Acropolis
above, is designed to protect against excess heat and provide
ideal light for sculpture viewing. This gallery, twisted 23 degrees
from the floors below, matches the precise orientation of the
Parthenon visible from the gallery.
The design also incorporates almost 2,200 square meters (23.680
sq. foot) of 3rd, 4th and 7th century archaeological excavations
on the building site into the museum as an extended exhibit. The
most up-to-date technology and ancient materials will be combined.
The two main materials are glass and marble, pre-cast concrete
will also be used.
Digital
visit to the new Acropolis Museum
Delayed
Completion
of the new Acropolis museum was expected in time for the 2004
Olympic Games but juridical problems and court cases have delayed
the construction. Many archaeological remains have been uncovered
during the digging for the museum's foundations, not surprising
given how close the building site is to the Acropolis itself.
Of particular interest to archaeologists is the discovery of an
ancient housing complex dating back to the seventh century AD.
Other findings go back to prehistoric times. Some experts say
this gives a particularly valuable insight into the evolution
of Athens and the lifestyle of ordinary people as opposed to the
elite. Campaigners took their case to the highest court of appeal
in Greece, which ordered building to stop but later ruled in favor
of the museum.
Supporters of the museum describe all the allegations as nonsense.
"Most of what's been uncovered will stay as part of the ground
floor of the museum," says David Hill of the British Committee
for the Restitution of the Parthenon marbles, who is a regular
visitor to the site. "What has been found loose on the ground
or uncovered has been catalogued, preserved and will be in the
new Acropolis Museum. None of the antiquities will be destroyed
or lost.". Museum officials say they've spent more than 13
million Euro over the past five years on the excavation to ensure
everything is preserved.
Photo
gallery
Click
a thumbnail to enlarge
The Parthenon Marbles
In
1806 and the following years, Thomas Bruce, the seventh earl of
Elgin and British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople,
stole works of Greek antiquity, amongst which were parts of the
Parthenon frieze, and transported them to England. In 1816, the
Parthenon marbles, in England known as the Elgin marbles, were
sold to the British government and were at once transferred from
a damp shed at Burlington House, Lord Elgin’s home, to the
British Museum. Read
more…
In numerous statements, the British Museum has made it clear
it will never allow the marbles to be moved permanently from
its collection in London to Athens. The Greek Government is
suggesting that it should be able to "borrow" the
marbles back. The British Museum remains extremely cautious. "Every
loan request is considered carefully on its merits," said
a spokesperson.
"However for conservation and reasons of public policy many
loan requests cannot be met.".
Despite
an offer to send loads of other antiquities to Britain in exchange
for the marbles, its official policy is unyielding. Neil McGregor's
(the director of the British Museum) latest public statement insists,
"Only here can the worldwide significance of the Parthenon
sculptures be fully grasped.". Hannah Boulton, a spokesperson
for the British Museum, confirmed that the building of the New
Acropolis Museum will not change the director's position.
Stain on the Union Jack
For centuries, the British have had high values and morals. These
are shown not only in the present Great Britain but also are
proven by its own great history and its valuable traditions.
However, there is a stain on the Union Jack.
Without wanting to go into controversy, the
so-called Elgin marbles, actually the Parthenon marbles, should
to be returned to Athens. They are a part of the Parthenon and
they belong together. On top, they are part of the rich history
of Greece that belongs to the Greeks, not the British. What
would the position of the British government be if half of the
crown jewels, kept in the Tower of London, would be taken by
Greece and put on display in a museum in Athens and the Greek
government would refuse to give them back?
After more then 200 years, it is time to do the right thing.
It is time to give the Greeks what is rightfully and historically
theirs. It is time to return the Parthenon marbles to Athens.
With every day that passes, the stain on the Union Jack is getting
bigger as is world support for the return of the Parthenon marbles.
There is no honor, nor respect, to be gained in being stubborn
for the wrong reasons.
Presentation
Professor
Dimitris Pandermalis, Professor of Archaeology at the Aristotle
University of Thessaloniki; Director of the Dion Excavations since
1970 and at present President of the Organization for the Construction
of the New Acropolis Museum, who has spend seven years getting
the new museum built, said: “I don’t care who owns
the sculptures as long as they return to the temple the came from.”.
For
a long time it was said that empty gaps would be left in the presentation
of the Parthenon marbles in the hope that Great Britain would
eventually fill those empty spaces by sending the slabs from the
frieze that are now in the British Museum.
Instead
of an empty space, Professor Pandemalis intends to exhibit the
frieze of the Parthenon with plaster casts of the many friezes
still at the British Museum behind a grey screen so that there
would be no confusion between the original and the copy. The screen
will make the missing part look like a “ghost”, as
Pandermalis put it. It also gives the idea that the missing parts
of the Parthenon frieze are kept imprisoned in and by the British
Museum.
In
the unlikely event that the British Museum returns the Elgin marbles,
the continuous procession that the frieze was meant to depict
will still have some gaps. Parts of it were lost in various upheavals,
including the conversion of the temple into a church in about
450 AD and a direct hit by a canon ball during a Venetian siege
in 1687 when the Parthenon was used by the Turks for military
purposes. In the new presentation, those gaps will be used as
points of entry into the space.
The
Greek-owned marbles, which had weathered badly over the years,
have all been cleaned using lasers, Pandermalis said.
The
old museum on top of the Acropolis closed its doors
in July 2007 to prepare the works of art to be moved
to the new museum. The brand new Acropolis Museum
is expected to fully open to the public at the end
of 2008. It will house more than 3.000 ancient Greek
works of art At the moment you can visit the
ground floor of the museum (no exhibits) from Monday
to Friday 10:00 to 12:00.
meter
(800 feet) from the Parthenon, the museum is the most significant
building ever erected so close to the ancient temple.){kind=small}
Along the sides of the ramp, and as free-standing installations,
there will be artifacts recovered from the Sanctuary of the
Nymphs, the Sanctuary of Asklepeios and elsewhere on the slopes
of the Acropolis. The middle is a large, double-height trapezoidal
plate that accommodates all galleries from the Archaic period
to the Roman Empire. There will be a multimedia auditorium and
a mezzanine bar and restaurant with view on the 
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For centuries, the British have had high values and morals. These
are shown not only in the present Great Britain but also are
proven by its own great history and its valuable traditions.
However, there is a stain on the Union Jack.
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Acropoli
