One of the Athens Acropolis’ finest and best-preserved korai – the archaic statues depicting young women – will be exhibited at the Roman Courtyard of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg on Friday.

The statue, which leaves Greece for the first time, is travelling to Russia in the framework of a cultural exchange program organised for the Year of Greece and Russia 2016.

The archaic statue was discovered in 1886 northwest of the Erechtheion and it is dressed in richly coloured clothing and jewellery. The hair, eyes, clothes and jewellery still retain traces of the original coloured pigments.

The exhibition will be inaugurated by Greece’s Culture Minister Aristidis Baltas and St. Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko and Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky.

Greece and Russia are planning a series of such initiatives throughout the year, aiming to further enhance the bonds of friendship between them. The initiatives will also include the organisation of various exhibitions giving the opportunity to Greek and Russian people to get familiar with important aspects of each other’s culture.

These exhibitions will begin with two separate actions. The first involves the display of Greco-Scythian gold objects, currently exhibited at State Hermitage Museum, at the Acropolis Museum from March 11 to October 2, and the second action is the display of Kore statue at State Hermitage Museum.