Marble from the Athens Parthenon for Sale on the Internet
Balkan Travellers
The starting price in the bid is 50,000 US dollars, according to the Antena television station. As proof of the antique object’s authenticity, it was reported, a recording of its being stolen was offered.
The report added that while the marble’s seller is anonymous, there is information on his identity and Greek authorities were informed.
This is the latest blow to Greece’s battle to protect ancient objects from its cultural heritage. As BalkanTravellers.com reported in February, the country’s ministry of culture proposed a new law to regulate various rights and dispute settlements regarding the ownership of Greek cultural monuments.
Greece’s longest-lasting effort for the recovery of its cultural objects has been the dispute over the Elgin Marbles, currently owned by and displayed at the British Museum in London. The country’s newly-constructed Acropolis Museum, which is expected to open in September, was built largely in order to pressure Britain to return the pieces, so that they can be displayed just metres away from their place of origin – the Parthenon.
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Balkan Cuisine
Greece
Octopus's Garden
You can't help being suspicious about the Greeks if you ever see how they treat their octopuses. The scenes of violence you can witness along the 16,000 kilometres of Greek coast are too shocking for people with a humane attitude to the animal world.
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Useful reads
Greece
The Maze (2004) | By Panos Karnezis
This novel offers a new interpretation of the events in the aftermath of the First World War and the Greco–Turkish War that lead to the Greek population’s expatriation from modern Turkey’s Aegean coast.
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Photogalleries
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A Perfect Shot
Instant Spring in Sofia | Photographs by Lode Desmet
Off-the-season Beauty of Bulgaria's Black Sea Coast | Photographs by Adelina Iliev
Bulgaria's Northern Black Sea Coast
Photographs by Albena Shkodrova
excellent smugs
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Relentless Homophobia Rages in the Balkans
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Insiders' Advice
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How to pick the right time to go? Winter is beautiful in the high mountains, the problem is, it can be so cold! Then again, who cares how cold it is - the locals have a cheap cure: heavy red wine. Sometimes warmed up.
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The Big Book of Travelling
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The Rise of Burlesque in New York: Tassels and the City
Burlesque – the more audacious relative of commedia dell'arte, is in revival. A reality in “upside down style”, this creative, witty and softer version of striptease is back on stage, following an absence of nearly 80 years. In New York, Anjeza Bojku scoped out several burlesqee venues for BalkanTravellers.com. Full Story
Thailand
A Short Guide to the Peculiarities of Thai Food
Travel News
30 June 2008 | Montenegro is declining as a summer destination for tourists from Serbia, while the Greek islands and the Chalkidiki Penninsula draw Serbs and Bulgarians en masse.
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