The New Acropolis Museum

One of the oldest international cultural disputes, the battle over the Parthenon Marbles, is taking a new twist as the new Acropolis Museum officially opens tomorrow.

Housed in a striking modern building situated at the foot of the Acropolis, the 130 million-euro ($181 million) museum is Greece’s answer to the British argument that there is nowhere in Greece to house the Marbles. The 17 figures and 56 panels were chiseled off in 1801 by Lord Elgin from a giant frieze that once decorated the Parthenon.

Greece has just rejected an offer from the British Museum to return a section of the Parthenon Marbles on a three-month loan.

Antonis Samaras, the Greek culture minister, said the deal would have meant acknowledging the British Museum as the legal owner.