Greece welcomes back ancient art at Acropolis

Greece on Friday welcomed the return of ancient artefacts from the Acropolis, furthering a campaign to press the British Museum to hand back a collection of sculptures taken from the ancient site in Athens more than 200 years ago. Culture Minister Lina Mendoni led a ceremony Friday for the repatriation of three sculpture fragments from the Parthenon temple on the Acropolis which had been kept at the Vatican Museums.

The fragments will be added to the collection at the Acropolis Museum. Carved in the 5th century BC, the sculptures from the Parthenon were taken in the early 19th century by British diplomat Lord Elgin before Greece won independence from the Ottoman Empire.