The Elgin Marbles Debate: Return to Greece?
Hi, my name is Dave, and I live in and write about Greece. This is my latest newsletter sent to subscribers of Dave's Travel Pages.
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Sunday 3rd December 2023 Dave's Travel Pages Newsletter
Hi,
Can you believe it's December already? Where did the year go!
There was only one main news story in Greece this week, and that was about the Parthenon friezes or Elgin Marbles.
The UK insists on calling them the Elgin Marbles - Perhaps as a way of 'branding' them British when in fact of course they are Greek.
(If you don't know, these friezes and sculptures adorned the Parthenon and other Acropolis temples. They were taken from the Acropolis by Lord Elgin, who 'bought' them from an Ottoman official in Athens. Effectively, they were 'bought' from an occupying foreign power).
Most people, scholars and the general public alike believe that these should now be returned to Greece. And, if you didn't realise by now, so do I!
The Acropolis Museum in Athens even has the display stands awaiting their return. Hopefully it won't be many more years.
I thought it was a nice touch that King Charles wore a tie with Greek symbols on it to the COP 28 meeting after the UK Prime Minister cancelled a meeting with the Greek Prime Minister over the row!
Moving on, it's now December which means we have a bit of a run up to Christmas.
This time of year is lower key in Greece than in many other Western countries. There are still some special events and Christmas markets, but in general, it's not the big commercial event it is in other parts of the world.
Thinking to visit Greece in December? Check out this article about Christmas in Athens. In addition, this Athens winter guide might also be a useful read.
Cheers for now,
Dave
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Dave is a UK travel writer living in Athens since 2015. With 20 years of firsthand travel experience and over 80,000 km of bicycle touring across six continents, he's been blogging at Dave's Travel Pages since 2005. Every guide is based on places he's actually been.
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