The story of the stolen marbles that never came back home..

Hi all. Today I ll write about a story that starts in the end of 18th century and still continues today. It's about the marbles stolen from Parthenon also known as Elgin's marbles ,a collection of Classical Greek marble sculptures and they were originally part of the temple of the Parthenon and other buildings on the Acropolis of Athens  . 

We are  in 1799 . Αmbassador (till 1803) of Great Britain in Athens was  Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin. In 1801 Knowing the value of the marbles , managed to take permission from the Sultan of Ottoman Empire ruling the area this period , in order to remove them from Parthenon for the purpose of measuring and plotting them in designs, and then proceeding to their removal and frosting to Britain. We never saw this permission in paper if it was really existed, nor we know it's content and for what exactly was given for. 

From 1801 to 1812, Elgin's agents removed about half of the surviving sculptures of the Parthenon, as well as sculptures from the Propylaea and Erechtheum. The marbles taken ,include some 21 figures from the statuary from the east and west pediments, 15 of an original 92 metope panels depicting battles between the Lapiths and the Centaurs, as well as 247 feet (or 75m) of the Parthenon Frieze which decorated the horizontal course set above the interior architrave of the temple. 

 

The Marbles were transported by sea to Britain. In Britain, the acquisition of the collection was supported by some, while others, such as Lord Byron, likened Elgin's actions to vandalism or looting. 

Following a public debate in Parliament and the subsequent exoneration of Elgin, the marbles were purchased from Elgin by the British government in 1816 and were passed to the British Museum, where they are on display in the purpose-built Duveen Gallery since 1936.

After gaining its independence from the Ottoman Empire, Greece began a series of projects to restore its monuments, and has expressed its disapproval of Elgin's removal of the Marbles from the Acropolis and the Parthenon, which is regarded as one of the world's greatest cultural monuments. Greece disputes the subsequent purchase of the Marbles by the British Government and urges the return of the marbles to Greece for their unification.

Since 1983,  firstly Minister of Culture Melina Merkouri back then, Greece has been trying to bring the marbles back to Athens. The effort of the Greek authorities to return the Parthenon sculptures to their place of origin and creation is actively supported by an international, homonymous committee. The necessity of their return to Greece is also confirmed by the official position of the representative of UNESCO, based on the principle of maintaining the integrity of monuments of world cultural heritage.

http://www.bringthemback.org/Kampania/idea.aspx

Hope we see them soon back where they belong . Please resteem it . It's important for every monument stolen to return in homeland .

Have a nice day !