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The museum is built directly over an early Christian settlement. Glass floors will allow visitors to look directly down into the site while surrounded by Classical and Archaic sculptures.

The marbles will be displayed in the order in which they would have graced the Parthenon, with blank spaces significantly left for sculptures that remain in London.

This joyous Archaic sculpture shows a bearded man carrying a calf, to be offered as a sacrifice to Athena. The statue itself was a votive offering and dates to 570 BC.

One of the most exquisite of the Archaic votive statues. Her gown, called a peplos , was painted with decorative colours. Traces of paint are still visible on her eyes, lips and curly hair.

The most sumptuous of the votive koroi – her detailed drapery and fully formed body show real development in sculpture. Her dress was painted with detailed patterns, including a border with the distinctive “Greek key” pattern.

Part of the pediment of an ancient temple to Athena, built before the Parthenon and later destroyed, shows Athena fighting against a Giant. It dates to 520 BC.

This beautiful sculpture of a young male athlete marks the transition from Archaic to early Classical sculpture, with the introduction of a naturalistic pose. The Kritos Boy sculpture dates to 480 BC.

This tiny relief shows the goddess Athena as a girl, without sword or shield and clad in an Attic peplos .

The original statued pillars that supported the Erechtheion’s porch have been brought inside for protection. Their arms are broken now, but initially they held libation bowls.

The small but dynamically sculpted frieze shows scenes of battle, with gods, Persians and Greeks all stepping into the fray.