Woman Returns Rare Archaeological Piece To Greece Given As A Gift 60 Years Ago — Fragment Belonged To Original Columns Of Olympia

Written by Romário Pereira de Carvalho

Published on 23/10/2025 at 20:34

Fragmento de capitel jônico ficou fora da Grécia por seis décadas — Foto: Ministério da Cultura e Desportos da Grécia

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After Nearly 60 Years, German Woman Returns To Greece A Fragment Of Ionic Capital Removed From Leonidaion In Olympia. The Act Was Celebrated As A Symbol Of Cooperation And Respect For World Historical Heritage

A German woman returned to Greece, in early October, a fragment of Ionic capital that she kept for nearly 60 years. The small limestone block, with traces of plaster, measures about 24 centimeters in height by 33.5 in width and was part of one of the columns of the Leonidaion, a building located at the southwestern edge of the archaeological site of Ancient Olympia.

The site is considered one of the most important in Ancient Greece, as it housed competitors in the original Olympic Games.

The fragment was taken from the country in the 1960s, when the woman received it as a gift and took it with her to Germany.

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Origin Of The Leonidaion

Built around the 4th century BC, the Leonidaion featured four Ionic colonnades with 138 decorated columns, a symbol of Hellenic classical architecture. Over the centuries, the structure was damaged by natural disasters and time.

Today, only a small part of the original columns remains preserved in the arena, serving as a testament to the grandeur of Greece’s past.

Cooperation Between Countries

The Greek Ministry of Culture reported that the return was only possible because the woman voluntarily approached the University of Münster in Germany.

Inspired by other restitutions promoted by the institution, she decided to hand over the artifact for it to be officially repatriated.

The action was described by the Greek government as a gesture of “sensitivity and courage.” Furthermore, the Ministry highlighted the ongoing partnership with the university, which had previously returned other artifacts in 2019 and 2024.

Ceremony In Olympia

The curator of the Archaeological Museum of the University of Münster, Torben Schreiber, represented the German institution at the repatriation ceremony held in Olympia.

The fragment will be incorporated into the collection of the Archaeological Museum of Olympia.

During the event, Schreiber emphasized the ethical value of the return and stated: “It’s never too late to do the right, moral, and just thing. It is the duty of institutions to return objects obtained in an irregular manner.”

With information from Galileu Magazine.

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Woman Returns Rare Archaeological Piece To Greece Given As A Gift 60 Years Ago — Fragment Belonged To Original Columns Of Olympia

After Nearly 60 Years, German Woman Returns To Greece A Fragment Of Ionic Capital Removed From Leonidaion In Olympia. The Act Was Celebrated As A Symbol Of Cooperation And Respect For World Historical Heritage

Origin Of The Leonidaion

Cooperation Between Countries

Ceremony In Olympia

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Woman Returns Rare Archaeological Piece To Greece Given As A Gift 60 Years Ago — Fragment Belonged To Original Columns Of Olympia

After Nearly 60 Years, German Woman Returns To Greece A Fragment Of Ionic Capital Removed From Leonidaion In Olympia. The Act Was Celebrated As A Symbol Of Cooperation And Respect For World Historical Heritage

Origin Of The Leonidaion

Cooperation Between Countries

Ceremony In Olympia

A giant printer called the “Ferrari” of concrete has landed in Latin America and can already build a 120-square-meter house in just 48 hours, making the traditional construction site look like something from the last century.

Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt has ceased to be a climatic phenomenon and has become a biological system that feeds on itself, with 8,000 kilometers in length, 37 million tons of algae, and scientists confirm that it is now permanent.

A British company has installed in the middle of the ocean the world’s first floating platform that generates electricity 24 hours a day from the temperature difference between the surface and the depths of the Atlantic, without relying on wind or sun.

China is building an artificial island in the middle of the sea, covering 20 km², to construct the largest offshore airport in the world, the Dalian Jinzhouwan. This $4.3 billion project is anchored on more than 3,000 pillars embedded in the rock beneath the ocean and is scheduled to open in 2035.

Brazil will harvest a record crop of up to 357 million tons of grains, but it does not have the capacity to store a large part of it. The storage deficit has reached the highest level in history and is equivalent to almost the entire production of Argentina.

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