ATHENS -- Greece on Sunday began moving the ancient sculptures from the temples of the Athens Acropolis to a new museum, designed specifically to prod the British Museum into returning its own prized collection of Parthenon marbles.

A crane lifts a blue container off the Acropolis during a transfer operation of artefacts from the Acropolis to a new location some 400 meters away in Athens October 14, 2007. [Agencies]
Dozens of bystanders, some in tears, watched as three cranes relayed a massive stone slab from the 2,500-year-old Parthenon. It was carved with four youths leading bulls to sacrifice to the goddess Athena.

"I am trembling, it touches my soul," said pensioner Pelagia Boulamatsi, 71, unable to hold back tears. "This is an ancient civilization that is the foundation of the world."

Officials said the move of the 2.5-tonne marble carving, the first in a series of transfers, went smoothly despite stronger than expected winds.

The boxed slab was relayed about 400 meters (yards) down to a new sleek steel and glass museum at the foot of the Acropolis, set to open next year.

"This is the move of the century ... it is the first time in 2,500 years the Parthenon marbles are moved," Culture Minister Michael Liapis said. "It's a historic event not just for Greece but the international community."

The centrepiece of the new museum will be a floor dedicated to the Parthenon's frieze and metopes. Most of the massive stone carvings are in the British Museum in London and clearly marked replicas will be used in their place in the Acropolis museum.

Those marbles, among the British Museum's most prized possessions, were hacked from the temple overlooking Athens in the early part of the 19th century by aristocrat Lord Elgin and shipped to London.

IMPETUS FOR RETURN

Greece hopes the sprawling new museum, with its third floor designed to hold the London sculptures, will give impetus to its campaign for the return of the missing Parthenon marbles.

"This museum protects and promotes the monuments in the best possible way and the request naturally re-emerges," Liapis said, calling again for the British Museum to give up the marbles.