Pope Francis orders the return of the Parthenon sculptures to Greece

Pope Francis has decided to return to Greece three pieces of the 2,500-year-old Parthenon that have been in the papal collections of the Vatican Museums for over a century.

The Vatican said in a brief statement on Friday that the pope was handing them over to Jerome II, head of the Greek Orthodox Church, as a gesture of ecumenical dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church.

The Parthenon, which stands on the Acropolis of Athens, was completed in the 5th century BC as a temple to the goddess Athena, and its decorative friezes contain some of the greatest examples of ancient Greek sculpture.

According to the Vatican Museums website, one of the pieces is the head of the horse that pulled the chariot of Athens on the west side of the building. The others are of a boy’s head and a bearded man’s head.

I have been in the Vatican since the 19th century.

The pieces are returned to Greece while London and Athens continue an artistic tug-of-war over the so-called Elgin Marbles.

Greece has repeatedly asked the British Museum for the permanent return of the 2,500-year-old sculptures, which British diplomat Lord Elgin removed from the Parthenon temple in the early 19th century when he was ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, then ruler of Greece.

The British Museum has always ruled out returning the marbles, which comprise around half of the 160-metre frieze that adorned the Parthenon, and insists they were acquired legally.

Earlier this month, a Greek newspaper reported that a deal to return the marbles to Greece was close, but the Greek government said it was not forthcoming.

In March, UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency, asked Greece and the United Kingdom to reach an agreement.

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Source: Terra

Camila

Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.