President Papoulias’s first visit to the New Acropolis Museum
President Karolos Papoulias visited the New Acropolis Museum Thursday and was visibly impressed with the way the newly installed exhibits have been displayed and the view of the Acropolis itself from within the museum’s halls. He was guided by Professor Dimitris Pantermalis, president of the Organization for the Construction of the New Acropolis Museum. The exhibits include the four authentic Caryatids (a fifth is being restored) and copy of the sixth (one of the pieces spirited away to Britain by Lord Elgin). A special section has been designated for the Caryatids so that they can be seen from all sides. The president was welcomed at the Museum by Culture Minister Michalis Liapis, Professor Pantermalis, the Acropolis ephor Alexandros Mantis and archaeologists. President Papoulias thanked all those who had «worked a miracle… for Greece and Athens and our culture.» «What is very important is that it is an open museum, a school of art for our youth and – if you will – an indication of the level of our history and culture as well as of the demands we have of those who don’t want to understand that some things have to return to the light and the historical base that once created them.» That reference to the demand for the return of the Parthenon sculptures from the British Museum is something every visitor, Greek or foreign, can understand.
