a religious procession in honour of the goddess Athena, and other scenes Ian Johnston Archaeological treasures of ancient Greece Figures known as caryatids on the porch of the Erechtheion, another temple on the Acropolis in Athens. Ian Johnston Archaeological treasures of ancient Greece A Centaur and a human in a fight scene taken from the Parthenon temple by Lord Elgin in the early 1800s and now on display in the British Museum. The figures’ heads are in Athens Ian Johnston Archaeological treasures of ancient Greece A wall painting from a house in Akrotiri, Santorini, which was covered with ash from a volcanic eruption in about 1,500BC. It shows swallows swooping among clusters of red lillies Ian Johnston

Professor Louis Godart, the newly elected chairman of the International Association forthe Parthenon Sculptures from the British Museum,” IARPS said.

“Greece and its supporters will not rest until all the known surviving sculptural elements from the Parthenon are reunited in the Acropolis Museum in full view of the monument which they once adorned.”

Greece is still suffering the effects of the 2008 recession in what is now essentially a humanitarian crisis, with pensions cut in half, youth unemployment at nearly 50 per cent – a level it has been at for years – and medical services crumbling.

The European Union and other international creditors have demanded policies of austerity in exchange for keeping the economy afloat with huge loans. At the same time, Greece has been struggling to cope with the influx of refugees fleeing the brutal civil war in Syria.

While nationalism