The deputy director of the British Museum has called for a “Parthenon partnership” with Greece, which could see the contentious Elgin Marbles return to Athens after more than 200 years.
The sculptures – 17 figures and part of a frieze that decorated the 2,500-year-old Parthenon temple on the Acropolis – were taken by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century when he was the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, and have since been the subject of a long-running dispute over where they should be displayed.
