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Athens News Agency: News in English, 07-12-08
CONTENTS
[01] First caryatid to new Acropolis Museum
[01] First caryatid to new Acropolis Museum
The transfer of the first of five caryatids from the old Acropolis
museum to the New Acropolis Museum in Makrygianni began on Saturday at
11:00 in the morning, using the three-crane relay system set up to
carry the priceless antiquities down the hill via the Theatre of
Dionysus.
The caryatid - a sculpted female form that serves as an architectural
support for entablature in the place of a pillar - will be placed on
the first level of the new museum in an internal "porch" that visitors
will see when they first climb up the grand stair at the entrance.
There were originally six caryatids on the Athens Acropolis that
supported the porch of the Erechtheion Temple, where they have now been
replaced by replicas. The best preserved of the six statues was taken
by Lord Elgin in the 18th century and is now held at the British
Museum, while the remaining five originals have been on display at the
Acropolis Museum.
Caption: ANA-MPA file photograph of a sunset behind the Erechtheion
Temple porch, showing the caryatid replicas now on-site at the Athens
Acropolis in October 2007. ANA-MPA/Orestis Panagiotou.
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