One of the iconic korai of the Acropolis,  a votive statue of a young woman from the site, is to be presented outside Greece for the first time on Friday, April 8, 2016, when it travels to St Petersburg.

The statue is set to go on display in the Roman Courtyard of the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.

The move marks a significant cultural exchange as part of a collaboration between the two countries for the Year of Greece and Russia 2016.

The kore loaned to the Hermitage Museum was discovered in 1886 northwest of the Erechtheion. The statue was dressed in richly colored clothing and jewelry and is shown lifting her long chiton as she walks. The hair, eyes, clothes and jewelry all retain traces of the original colored pigments decorating the marble statue.

Greece’s Culture Minister Aristidis Baltas will inaugurate the exhibition in Greece while his Russian counterpart, Governor Georgy Poltavchenko and the Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky will do the same in St Petersburg.

An announcement from the Ministry of Culture in Greece said that the two countries are planning a series of such initiatives throughout the year to help Greeks and Russians become better acquainted with each others’ culture.