The New Acropolis Museum is finally set to open in June after many years of delays and frustrations. Construction of the museum began in November, 2004 and it was designed by Bernard Tschumi and Michalis Photiadis. There will be approximately 20,000 square meters of exhibition space in and around the museum.
The new glass and concrete museum sits at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens and will allow visitors to gaze upon the Parthenon while inside looking at displays and artifacts from the ancient Greek site. The Greek government has accumulated, received and moved thousands of artifacts for the museum. The Salinas Museum in Palermo, Italy, sent a slab of the Parthenon frieze where it hung for more than 200 years. Other pieces from the frieze have been donated and returned to the museum and it is hoped that it will gradually be completely reconstituted here.
Greek Culture Minister Antonis Samaris said recently that the opening ceremony will be held on June 20th. The initial plans for a massive opening extravaganza to the 130 million-euro structure have been scaled back in light of the economic times. The museum expects to receive some two million visitors each year.
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