Athens, Greece

Damaged and looted 1803

I think the Elgin Marbles should be returned to complete the Parthenon.  Tobias C. 

 Also requested by Dillon C.

The Parthenon was a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena located on the Acropolis in Athens. Construction took place between 447 BC and 438 BC, although decoration of the building continued afterwards. It is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece. After having been converted into a church at the end of the 6th century, the church was converted into a mosque in the 1460s after the Ottoman conquest of Greece. In 1687, the Parthenon was severely damaged when the Venetian bombardment of the Acropolis ignited an ammunition store that was kept inside the building by the Ottomans. Between 1800 and 1803, Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, removed many of the surviving sculptures with the alleged permission of local Ottoman authorities. The Elgin marbles are currently in the British Museum despite the Greek Government’s petition for their return. The Acropolis Museum in Athens has spaces for the missing sculptures.