At the beginning of the 19th century, the stone sculptures of the Parthenon on the Acropolis were lost to Britain and became an important collection of the British Museum. In order to restore this historic monument to its original appearance, the Greek Acropolis Museum recently urged the British Museum to return the stone sculptures.
Located at the highest point of the Acropolis, the Parthenon was built in the 5th century BC and is one of the most important ancient Greek buildings in existence. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, Thomas Bruce, earl of Elgin, then British ambassador to Constantinople, demolished and took away a large number of stone sculptures from the Parthenon during the raid on the Parthenon. Later, these stone sculptures were mainly collected in the British Museum in London, England, and some other stone fragments fell into major museums in Europe.
In recent years, France and Italy have returned fragments of stone carvings to the Acropolis Museum through exchange and lease. Greek parties have also repeatedly urged the British Museum to return the stone carvings. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said last month that he understood the strong feelings of the Greek people on the issue, but reiterated Britain's longstanding position, insisting that the stone sculptures were "lawfully obtained in accordance with the laws in force at the time".
(Editor: Zhu Wenhao)