Acropolis Museum

As twilight turns to dusk and the August full moon rises over the Parthenon, the Acropolis Museum invites locals and visitors to partake in a courtyard musical celebration. Beginning at 8 p.m. on Thursday, August 15, the Acropolis Museum will grant free entry to all, with performers taking the stage at 9 p.m.

Organized by the Ministry of Culture, there will be free entrance to countless archaeological sites and museums across Greece on the night of the August full moon on Thursday, many of which will also be hosting live music events. The week from August 11 to 19 will also see a number of sites and museums holding special events to make the occasion.

A foreign national arrested on Friday in connection with a string of incidents in which pedestrians were mugged and cars were broken into around the Acropolis and Koukaki areas faces multiple theft charges.

The 37-year-old was spotted by members of the Greek Police's motorcycle-riding DIAS unit near the entrance to the Acropolis Museum, loitering around parked cars.

On June 20, Greece and the world museum community celebrated the 10th anniversary of the inauguration of the Acropolis Museum in Athens. The state-of-the-art museum is rightly regarded as a defining structure that has established a dialogue, across time and space, between the sculptural works it houses and the Sacred Rock itself.

Greek singer-songwriter Hellena performed her latest composition, "The Parthenon Marbles - Bring Them Back" in a protest at the British Museum's Room 18 on Thursday afternoon, the Athens-Macedonia News Agency (ANA-MPA) has reported.

As the Acropolis Museum celebrates its 10-year anniversary, its president, Professor Dimitris Pantermalis. said the main focus has been to maximize the experience of visitors.

"It is a great pleasure for the Acropolis Museum to celebrate its tenth birthday," he said in an interview with state-run news agency ANA-MPA.

The Acropolis Museum, considered among the world's best, is celebrating 10 years since it opened its doors to the public, living up to a phrase used by its president, Professor Dimitrios Pandermalis, at a press conference for the occasion this week - that "the whole point is giving as much as you can to your visitors." And what a decade it's been too, with some 14.5 million visitors crossing it

The Acropolis Museum will mark its 10th anniversary on June 21 with the official opening to visitors of an ancient Athenian neighborhood that was excavated beneath the building and which is currently visible through the glass floor at its entrance.

This Saturday, May 18, is International Museum Day and a great opportunity to take advantage of the free admission policy at all of Greece's archaeological sites, historical monuments and museums. Several institutions are also planning special events to mark the occasion.

Drawing on data gleaned from 19th century Ottoman archives, Acropolis Museum director Dimitrios Pandermalis has challenged claims by the British Museum that Lord Elgin had obtained permission from the sultan when Greece was under Turkish rule to transfer the Parthenon Marbles from Athens to London.