Greek arts Archives - Insights Greece

Parthenon Fragment Returned from Sicily, Now on Display at Acropolis Museum

A fragment from the Parthenon temple that was recently returned to Greece by the regional archaeological museum of Sicily, has now been placed on the Parthenon frieze at the Acropolis Museum in Athens, where it will remain on display as part of a long-term loan.

The fragment depicts the right foot and part of the dress of the Greek goddess Artemis, which once sat on the eastern frieze of the 2,500-year-old Parthenon temple atop the Acropolis Hill.

The slab was unveiled in a ceremony at the Acropolis Museum yesterday, January 10, as the fragment was placed in the Parthenon Gallery – a glass-walled chamber with a view of the Parthenon- displaying sculptures of the temple’s 160-metre-long frieze in the same position as they were on the original monument (with plaster copies replacing pieces that are now mainly in the British Museum.)

Insights Greece - Parthenon Fragment Returned from Sicily, Now on Display at Acropolis Museum — The fragment from Palermo on its base, at the position where it’s placed at the east frieze at the Acropolis Museum. Images by Paris Tavitian © Acropolis Museum

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Culture Minister Lina Mendoni, the director of Acropolis Museum Nikos Stambolidis and the President of the Acropolis Museum Dimitris Pantermalis attended the ceremony, as Greek officials warmly welcomed the development, stressing that it shows the way for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures kept for two centuries at the British Museum.

Also at the ceremony was Assessor, Dr. Alberto Samonà, Cultural Heritage and Identity of Sicily, who said during the event, “We hope that after Sicily, other regions and countries also decide to take a step forward so that we can build together a new humanism.”

It is unclear how Fagan came to own the fragment, which has been in Palermo, Sicily, since 1818 and was part of the archaeological collection of Robert Fagan, a British diplomat and art dealer who was appointed consul general for Sicily and Malta in the early 19th century. Following his death, his widow sold the piece to the University of Palermo’s Regio Museum, now the Salinas Museum.

Director of A. Salinas Museum in Palermo, Dr. Caterina Greco added, “Today is a very important day, both for the culture and for me personally. The reconnection of the fragment with the other fragments on display in this majestic museum first seals, in the most representative degree, the feelings of brotherhood and cultural identity that have connected Sicily with Greece for centuries.”

The Italian museum has returned the fragment on loan to Greece for eight years with a view of permanent repatriation. It can be viewed by the public at the Acropolis Museum, which is one of the world’s most visited museums.

Images by Paris Tavitian © Acropolis Museum

Legendary Greek Composer Mikis Theodorakis Passes Away

Greece’s greatest music composer in history, Mikis Theodorakis, whose music has touched generations of people worldwide, died on Thursday at the age of 96 in Athens, after years of suffering from a heart condition.

Theodorakis was born on July 29 in 1925, on the island of Chios. The talented songwriter and composer wrote over 1000 songs and is viewed as Greece’s best-known composer of all time.

As a child, Theodorakis taught himself to write songs without having any access to musical instruments and performed his first concert at the age of 17.

An active resistance fighter during World War II, Theodorakis studied at the conservatories in both Athens and Paris and wrote several symphonies during the late ’50s but later returned to Greece to apply his musical knowledge to traditional Greek music, which he was most passionate about.

His first symphonic works, Concerto for Piano, First Suite, and First Symphony were internationally acclaimed and in 1957 Theodorakis won the Gold Medal in the Moscow Music Festival. Also, in 1959 Darius Milhaud proposed him for the American Copley-Music Prize as the Best European Composer of the Year, after the performances of his ballet “Antigone” at Covent Garden.

Having written many symphonies, ballets, and operas, his most popular songs include “Zorba the Greek,” for which he won a Grammy award. His work has also been performed by legendary artists including The Beatles and Shirley Bassey. Theodorakis composed the scores in films including Z (1969), which won the BAFTA Prize for original music, Phaedra (1962), and Serpiko (1973), for which he was nominated for a Grammy in 1975.

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Visiting Athens’ Benaki Museum

The Benaki Museum is the largest and most active museum organisation in Greece, featuring four main museums in Athens– the Museum of Greek Culture, the Pireos Annex, the Museum of Islamic Art, and the Toy Museum.

The Benaki Museum of Greek Civilization was founded by Anthony Benakis and donated to the Greek state in 1931. Here, one can find permanent exhibitions featuring ancient Greek and Roman art, Byzantine, post-Byzantine and Hellenic art, historic heirlooms, a vast collection of drawings, paintings and prints, Chinese and Korean art, and more.

Insights Greece - Visiting Athens’ Benaki Museum

At the Pireos 138 Annex, the museum presents modern Greek architecture and photography and temporary events and exhibitions – currently, it is hosting some special event exhibitions honouring “1821,” 200 Years of Greek Independence.

The Toy Museum presents the lifetime collection of Maria Argyriadi that is among the most important in Europe that includes toys, books, clothing, and other items associated with childhood from Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

The Museum of Islamic Art houses one of the world’s most important collections of art from India, Persia, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, the Middle East, Arabia, Egypt, North Africa, Sicily, and Spain.

Two more museums have also been added to the museum’s impressive portfolio—the Studio of Yannis Pappas and the Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika Gallery. Plus there are five active Archival Departments (Photographic, Architectural, Historical) and a rich library, which come together to establish the Benaki Museum as the most active and dynamic museum organisation in Greece.

The Benaki Museum is committed to presenting emerging knowledge about its collections through educational activities for children and adults, publications, exhibitions, and events, nationally and internationally.

Opening hours:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday: 10 am to 6 pm

Thursday: 10 am – 11:30 pm

Sunday: 10 am – 4 pm

Address: Koumpari 1, Athens

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A fragment from the Parthenon temple that was recently returned to Greece by the regional archaeological museum of Sicily, has now been placed on the Parthenon frieze at the Acropolis Museum in Athens, where it will remain on display as part of a long-term loan.

Greece’s greatest music composer in history, Mikis Theodorakis, whose music has touched generations of people worldwide, died on Thursday at the age of 96 in Athens, after years of suffering from a heart condition.

The Benaki Museum is the largest and most active museum organisation in Greece, featuring four main museums in Athens– the Museum of Greek Culture, the Pireos Annex, the Museum of Islamic Art, and the Toy Museum.

The Athens Guide