(AFP) – Oct 14, 2007

ATHENS (AFP) — Three giant cranes began the painstaking task Sunday of transferring hundreds of iconic statues and friezes from the Acropolis to an ultra-modern museum located below the ancient Athens landmark.

The operation started with the transfer of part of the frieze at the northern end of the Parthenon.

That fragment alone weighed 2.3 tonnes and in the weeks to come, the cranes will move objects as heavy as 2.5 tonnes.

Packed in a metal casing the frieze, which shows a ancient religious festival in honour of the goddess Athena, was transferred from the old museum next to the Parthenon to the new one 300 metres (984 feet) below.

Under a cloudy sky, with winds of 30 to 39 kilometres an hour (19-24 miles an hour), the three cranes passed the package down to its new home, in an operation that lasted one and a half hours.

Following the operation on site was Culture Minister Michalis Liapis, who also attended Thursday's two-hour dry run, along with several archaeologists, engineers, restoration experts and technicians.

"It's a moving moment," said Liapis. "This is an international event that will soon allow the opening of the new museum where thousands of tourists will be able to admire these precious relics."

On Thursday, the culture minister said the move would be halted if there were storms or strong winds, since the relics' safety was the main consideration.

This unprecedented transfer of so many ancient objects was "technically very difficult and delicate", Liapis stressed.

But windy conditions did not mar the move Sunday, and the operation's chief engineer Kostas Zambas pronounced it a success.

"Everything passed off well, despite the wind," Zambas told AFP.

Most of the more than 300 more ancient objects should be transferred over the next six weeks, Liapis said, weather conditions permitting. The cranes will stay on site a further six weeks to handle some smaller objects.

The operation will cost 1.6 million euros (2.2 million dollars) and has been insured to the value of 400 million euros.

The new museum, designed by Swiss-born architect Bernard Tschumi, will house Greece's Parthenon collection and other finds from the Acropolis. It is due to open to the public in early 2008.

Spanning 25,000 square metres (nearly 270,000 square feet), the three-story structure will mainly house relics and artefacts dating back to between 800 and 500 B.C from other historical sites such as the Athena Nike temple, dedicated to the Greek goddess of victory.

Greece is still lobbying for the return of the Elgin Marbles -- part of the iconic structure of the Parthenon, which were removed by agents of Britain's ambassador to the Ottoman Empire Lord Elgin.

They were taken to London in the early 19th century and Greece has demanded their return for decades, but the British Museum which eventually purchased them has long argued they should remain in London.

"We hope that within three months all the relics will have been transported to the new museum," Liapis said Thursday.

"The millions of visitors to the new museum will be our best allies for the return of the Elgin Marbles."

One of the world's most visited sites, the Acropolis was formally proclaimed as the pre-eminent monument on the European Cultural Heritage list of monuments on the March 26 this year.

It dates back to the golden age of Athenian democracy which began in the fifth century B.C.

Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »