Acropolis sculptures go into boxes for first-ever move

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2007

ATHENS (AFP) — Huddled on Athen's Acropolis, archaeologists are fine-tuning an unprecedented, multi-million dollar operation to relocate Greece's most prized antiquities to a new, modern showcase set to open in 2008.

Around 330 statues and artefacts from the Parthenon and other temples that overlook the capital are to be transported from the current museum, which was carved into the rock in 1874, starting in September.

The New Acropolis Museum -- also meant to give muscle to Greece's campaign to force Britain to return the Elgin Marbles, priceless friezes from the Parthenon -- is only 300 metres (yards) away.

But the task is all the more daunting since many of the masterpieces were never meant to be moved -- the heaviest weighs 2.5 tonnes. Others have been...