<translation> The new museum under the Acropolis is set to open in Athens next year </translation>

Athens - The new Acropolis Museum at the foot of the Acropolis, where all surviving sculptural decorations of the ancient Parthenon, the temple of the goddess Athena, are to be placed, will be completed in the first half of 2007. The building, designed by Swiss-American architect Bernard Tschumi, was originally supposed to open in 2004, when the Olympic Games were held in the Greek capital.
The museum project, worth 129 million euros, aims to prepare a better position for the Greeks in negotiating the return or lending of part of the sculptural decorations of the Parthenon, which are located in Britain. Some marble statues, created between 447 and 432 BC, were taken from Athens in the early 19th century by British diplomat Lord Elgin.
"Once the museum is opened, it will be a very strong argument for why the Parthenon sculptures should be returned to Greece," said Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.
The new museum will offer an exhibition area of 20,000 square meters, and Bernard Tschumi designed it as a tribute to the simple geometric shapes of ancient temples. Large glass surfaces are intended to let in as much natural daylight as possible while providing visitors with an uninterrupted view of the Acropolis. The placement of the original sculptures is to be as faithful as possible to their original location on the Parthenon.