Greece recovers hundreds of looted artifacts

Treasury of 351 repatriated objects, including a 2nd-century bronze statue of Alexander the Great.

Greece said it has recovered hundreds of looted artifacts from Neolithic to Byzantine times, including a second-century bronze statue of Alexander the Great from a notorious British antiquities dealer after a 17-year legal battle.

The fight to repatriate the hoard of 351 objects began in 2006 with authorities investigating Robin Symes’ eponymous company at home and abroad, Greece’s Culture Minister Lina Medoni said in a statement late Friday. .

The recovery came years after Italian and Swiss police in 2016 recovered a haul of archaeological artifacts stolen from Italy and stored by Symes, a key figure in the illegal antiquities trade with ties to Italian tomb raiders.

The Italian artifacts were found in a storage unit in the free port of Geneva, but the Greek Ministry of Culture did not specify whether their recovery was related to Italian loot.

The extensive collection repatriated to Greece includes notable pieces, such as a Neolithic statuette carved from white stone, dating to the fourth millennium BC.

Other significant finds include an early Cycladic figurine dating to between 3200 and 2700 BC. C., a damaged marble statue of a kore from the Archaic period of 550-500 BC. C. and an archaic marble head of a kore or a sphinx from 550-500 BC. c.

Greece has been struggling to repatriate looted artifacts from museums and private collections around the world.

Three fragments of the Parthenon temple in Athens, kept by the Vatican for centuries, were returned to Greece in March in what Pope Francis has called a gesture of friendship.

Fragments of the monument are scattered in many renowned museums.

Earlier this year, reports also surfaced that the Greek government and the British Museum are in advanced talks to return the Parthenon Marbles.

The ancient sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, were taken from the Parthenon temple in Athens in the early 19th century by the British diplomat Lord Elgin and have been in the British Museum ever since.