Three fragments from the Parthenon were returned by the Vatican Museums to Greece after the highly symbolic ceremony.
A few days after the signing of the donation protocol, the three fragments from the north frieze, the west pediment and the south pediment of the Parthenon returned to Athens, to the Acropolis Museum where, on Friday afternoon, the official ceremony of their reception and incorporation took place .
“The heroic decision of the Primate of the Roman Catholic Church to donate a treasure that may not seem big, but is a great gift to all of us, is something that leaves us indebted,” Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Greece said.
“We particularly appreciate the decision of the Roman Catholic Church for the offering, to my humble person, of the fragments, which we also willingly gave to the Greek state, to be exhibited in the Acropolis Museum,” he added after welcoming the Vatican delegation.
The Minister of Culture and Sports Lina Mendoni said: “This is a gesture with a strong religious, but also political symbolism, which reflects the deep moral conviction that the mangled and mutilated monument itself demands the return of its architectural sculptural members, in order to regain its single and indivisible physical, aesthetic and semantic entity.”
The minister also referred to the “determining”, as she described it, contribution of the Ecumenical Patriarch Mr. Bartholomew in making the transfer a success.
“The Patriarch, before the official request of the Acropolis Museum was formulated, begged himself, embassed to the Pope, sent Elder Chalcedon as an envoy to the Vatican, and the Pontiff responded to his prayer. Thus, he manifested his sincere desire to follow the path of universal truth,” she added.
READ MORE: The Greek Orthodox Church Requests the Return of the Parthenon Sculptures.
