Thirty years in the making, the 130 million euro New Acropolis Museum is a stunning, if controversial, addition to Athen’s famous architectural landscape and at the same time a provocative statement of intent by the Greek people. In a fascinating talk in Dublin last night, Professor Dimitrios Pandermalis, President of the new museum took an enthralled audience on a tour of the history, architecture and intentions of the spectacular building. The talk, entitled ‘Collections Present and Absent at the New Acropolis Museum, Athens‘ was hosted by the National Museum of Ireland, organised by the Irish Museums Association and was attended…
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Thirty years in the making, the 130 million euro New Acropolis Museum is a stunning, if controversial, addition to Athen’s famous architectural landscape and at the same time a provocative statement of intent by the Greek people. In a fascinating talk in Dublin last night, Professor Dimitrios Pandermalis, President of the new museum took an enthralled audience on a tour of the history, architecture and intentions of the spectacular building.
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This week the film The Twilight Saga: New Moonis being released, fuelling vampire mania around the world. While teenagers go completely nuts over the film’s hunky vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson) one wrote ‘bite me’ on her face as she queued with 5,000 others to see him in London last week other die-hard fans of the Twilight books, written by Stephenie Meyers, are also descending on the small hill-top town of Volterra, in Tuscany, where some of the action of the film is set (even though filming actually took place in Montepulciano, 70 miles away). As a result, hordes of teenagers…
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It’s the most exciting project in Egypt, and one that’s captured the hearts and minds of people all over the world: could Kathleen Martinez have discovered the tomb of Cleopatra? The Dominican expert certainly thinks so, and tells Heritage Key all about it in this special video. A Long Route to Egypt It has taken Dr Martinez ten years to convince herself Taposiris Magna, just outside Alexandria, is the famous queen’s final resting place. And she knew from the off she had to get out in the field herself to have any chance of finding the tomb. “I needed to…
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Following on from the amazing high resolution satellite images of the Pyramids of Giza, it’s worth noting that the Pyramid is a structure that is seen across the world. The pyramid form was a popular one in ancient times – when you mention the Pyramids, people will instantly think of the Ancient Egyptians, and the Great Pyramid of Giza. But many civilisations adopted the pyramidal form, from the Greeks and Romans to the Chinese and Mesopotamians! The primary reason for this would be the structural form of a pyramid – the majority of the construction material that would be used…
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The seas off the coast of Montenegro are largely under-explored by archaeologists, but a school-boy’s discovery could put one site near the city of Bar on the archaeological map once and for all. When 16-year old Michael Le Quesne, from Buckinghamshire, was snorkelling at the bay of Maljevik in September, he came across what looked first of all like some round stones two metres below the surface. Many people might have thought nothing of it and would have snorkelled happily on, preferring to look for fish instead. But Michael had obviously learned a thing or two about old ‘stones’ at…
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Ancient artworks from Jordan some of them never before seen outside Petra and Amman – are going on display today at Rome’s Quirinal Palace. The star attraction at the exhibition is a statue found at the site of Ayn Ghazal near Amman dating from 7500 BC, one of the oldest surviving statues of its kind and size. The exhibition has been organised by the President of the Italian Republic in honour of the state visit of the King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan. Sixty items will be on display in the ‘Sale delle Bandiere’ at the Palazzo del…
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Heritage Key has just returned from a blustery, biting morning trip to legendary writer John Julius Norwich‘s house, beside the pretty canals of London’s Little Venice. It was a great interview, and one which we’ll be following up with articles, videos and photos right here – see below for tips on how to keep up with our content! A brisk wind whips up dervishes of crooked caramel and crimson leaves; whistling cold signals the city’s slide from autumn to winter. Yet a firm handshake and sincere smile minutes later leaves HK as warm as ever, as we enter Lord Norwich’s…
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An unheralded Cretan quarry could be the site of the legendary labyrinth in which Theseus killed the Minotaur, says an Anglo-Greek team of experts. The group claims the stone quarry, located just outside the tiny town of Gortyn, is just as likey to be the scene for one of Greek mythology‘s most famous tales as the better-known Palace of Knossos 20 miles away. 600,000 people pass through the palace ruins each year; nearly all of whom are told it is the place where King Minos built his fabled maze to house the fearsome Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull creature who feasted…
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Who hasn’t watched Gladiatorand then wondered why you don’t meet men like that down the local pub? The same goes for those bulging muscles of antiquity that we see in classical art galleries they’ve often made me think that, well, they don’t make ’em like they used to. Now it turns out that what we thought all along that men in ancient times were a darn sight fitter than their modern descendants – is actually true. What’s more, it seems that ancient man was also better looking and more intelligent. This is the controversial argument that Australian author Peter McAllister…