It is often said that if the Parthenon Marbles return to Athens would harm the British Museum's identity as a universal museum or as an encyclopedic museum.
On the contrary, it would be one of the greatest universal gestures the British Museum would make to return these objects. The British Museum could thus emerge as a generous Museum, as a truly universal Museum.
Visit the ancient city of Aigai, the palace of Philip II, its necropolises with the magnificent royal tombs and its museum which hosts some of Greece's most cherished treasures through the site's innovative website, and discover another way to connect time and space.
Unlike what we learned to believe, Greece and Rome's masterpieces were originally full of color. Time and exposure to the elements gradually transformed the once multicolored marbles to the white surfaces we know, which impressed art aficionados during the Renaissance. In the 18th century, the German art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann -often considered as the father of Art History- included whiteness as one of Classical Art's leading virtues.
Greece is much more than its ancient past. In the time when the Dark Ages were spreading across Europe, Greece and the whole Asia Minor was home to the Byzantine Empire, the natural continuity of the Roman Empire which was gradually transforming into a Greek-speaking, Orthodox Christian mega-state.
The new Museum of the Boeotian Thebes in Greece now constitutes the main cultural hub of the town and a significant tourist attraction, playing an important role in the growth both of Thebes and the whole of Boeotia. Archaeologist and local Antiquities Director Dr. Alexandra Charami explains how treasures from the city of Oedipus and its surrounding area are displayed to highlight more than meets the eye.
Little is known about the people living in the small islands of central Aegean we now called the Cyclades c. 4.000 years ago. Beginning their life in small -and at times fortified- settlements, sailing the sea during their short lifetime, buried in humble graves upon their death, and with no written records to reveal their way of thinking, these islanders' thoughts, hopes, and dreams remain a mystery. Only silent witness to this lost world's "mind" is the enormous number of marble statues from the Islands, whose minimal design links the ancient to the modern and is considered as the beginning of European art.
The museum of acropolis is listed as one of the top museums in the world. As a matter of fact, it ranked 8th of the best in the world and 3rd of the best in Europe! Not to mention it is the top 1 museum to visit in Greece!
