Greece opens new Acropolis Museum

The new Acropolis Museum, a long awaited project that has suffered years of delays, finally opened its doors on Saturday. The opening night included a ceremony with 300 political and academic figures from around the world. But the message of the night was in fact directed at a different museum. Greece is insisting that the Parthenon Marbles return from the British Museum.

The vast glass museum at the foot of the Acropolis houses thousands of antiquities from the Acropolis temples including artifacts never seen by the public before. The pieces highlight some of the most important archaeological periods including the classical, archaic and roman periods.

The idea of building the 130 million euro museum began as far back as the 1970s, but gained momentum a decade later as part of the appeal for the return of the Parthenon Marbles from Britain. The British Museum has refused to return these pieces citing the lack of a proper display space in Greece.

But setbacks through the years delayed the project, with construction finally beginning in 2004.