(ANSA-AFP) - ATHENS, OCT 26 - A quarter of a century in the
making, Greece's capital Athens on Thursday opens a museum
honouring legendary soprano Maria Callas, billed as the first of
its kind in the world. Designed to mark the centenary of her
birth, the museum showcases over 1,300 exhibits including
Callas's school scrapbook, inscribed books and sheet music,
opera dresses and photographs, organisers said. "The great diva,
Maria Callas, returns home," Athens mayor Kostas Bakoyannis said
Wednesday at a media tour of the venue. "We are very proud of
this first museum that combines technology and lived
experience," he said. A listed four-storey building from the
1920s that previously housed a hotel, the custard-coloured
museum near central Syntagma Square took over a decade to
complete at a cost of 1.5 million euros ($1.6 million). The
collection began 24 years ago, when the city acquired some
Callas items at a Paris auction. "This is a museum for all the
senses," said Konstantinos Dedes, one of the project
supervisors. The tour begins on the second floor, where visitors
step onto a forest scene as Callas -- silhouetted on a stage at
the back wall -- sings an aria from Bellini's opera Norma. It
was one of the defining performances of an illustrious career
spanning more than three decades which saw Callas dubbed "La
Divina" -- the divine. (ANSA-AFP).
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