The new Greek museum under the Acropolis will be opened in 2007

ATHENS - After several years of delays, Greece will finally open its new museum under the Acropolis. The first ancient sculptures from the Parthenon are to be placed in the museum this summer, and by the end of next year, the museum should be accessible to the public. This was announced today by Greek Culture Minister Jorgos Vulgarakis.
"We are working towards the museum being opened by the end of 2007," said the minister, who visited the partially completed building near the ancient temples on the Acropolis. Greece originally wanted to open the museum before the Olympic Games in 2004, but this was not achieved mainly due to bureaucratic delays. The construction costs have increased to 129 million euros (almost four billion CZK) due to the three-year delay, which is a quarter more than the original budget.
Before the museum opens, Greece wants to intensify efforts to have the frieze from the Parthenon that is held by the British Museum in London returned, the minister said. He called on the British for a friendlier stance and emphasized that the Greeks are only demanding the frieze from the eastern part of the temple for the museum. Greece has been striving to recover all the friezes since 1832, when it gained independence. They were taken to Britain by Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, which occupied Greece at that time.
"If London insists on its dismissive stance, there will be an empty space here," said archaeologist Dimitris Pantermalis, head of the state enterprise responsible for the construction. The frieze is to be placed in the most prestigious part of the museum, in the Parthenon hall.
This summer, the skeleton of the four-story building, which is 23 meters high, will be completed, and construction of a glass structure that will cover the museum will begin. The building will be protected from earthquakes, which are common in this seismically active area, by 94 shock-absorbing supports, Pantermalis said.
The museum will feature artifacts from the temples on the Acropolis, including the Parthenon. In the basement, visitors will be able to view the excavations in the center of the ancient city, which revealed a mosaic-decorated dining room.