These are the marble reliefs and statues originally on the Parthenon on top of the Acropolis in Athens. In 1801, the 7th Earl of Elgin, the British ambassador to Istanbul, obtained permission from the Ottoman Sultan, then sovereign ruler of Greece, to take possession of the Parthenon marbles and shipped them back to England. This collection has been on display in the British Museum since 1816. Since its independence, Greece has been trying the reclaim the collection from Britain.
Click here to see the large hall the Greeks built for the collection while awaiting its return.