Athens Greece Museums

ATHENS MUSEUMS The museums in Athens have always had countless treasures to display but they now do this in an attractive way to today’s visitors.
The collections are displayed in a modern way. A chronological order, easy to understand information panels and subtle lighting, make visiting a museum in Athens an enjoyable family event

It is one of the most important museums in the world. It temporarily houses masterpieces of the ancient Greek civilization, dedicated to the most important of the Athenian sanctuaries, the "temenos" of Athena Parthenos. Preparations for the erection of the New Acropolis Museum have already begun.

Many of the unique works of art that ornamented the Acropolis have been stolen and transferred abroad. The worst plundering of the monuments took place in the beginning of the 19th century by Lord Elgin.
The museum was designed by the architect Panages Kalkos and constructed between 1865 and 1874. In the 1950's it was extended towards the east and the exhibition was rearranged by the archaeologist I. Meliades. The museum contains only the stone sculptures from the monuments of the Acropolis and from the excavations on the site. Since the beginning of the excavations, the vases and the bronzes have been kept in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, while the inscriptions are housed in the Epigraphical Museum

Days-hours Monday: 11.00-17.00
Tuesday - Sunday: 08.00-17.00

Special ticketing package for the Archaeological Sites of Athens
(Acropolis site and museum, Ancient Agora, Theatre of Dionysos
Kerameikos, Olympieion, Roman Agora): ˆ 12 (reduced: ˆ 6).

Agora museum is housed in the Stoa of Attalos, a reconstructed building of around 150 B.C. The characteristic feature of the mseum is that the exhibits are all closely connected with the Athenian Democracy, as the Agora was the focus of the city's public life.
The Stoa of Attalos was discovered during the excavations carried out by the Greek Archaeological Society between 1859 and 1902. In 1953-56 it was reconstructed in order to house the finds from the excavations at the Agora. In 1957 the Greek state assumed responsibility for the administration and security of the museum and the archaeological site.

Days-hours Monday: 11.00-17.00
Tuesday - Sunday: 08.00-17.00

The completely renovated National Archaeological Museum ranks the leading archaelogical museums in the world. Survey the numerus important exhibits and explore Greece History. You will be impessed by the treasures of the museum and will want to come back for another visit. However, if you come just once, be sure to have enough time.

The construction of the museum was begun in 1866 and completed in 1889 with the gradual addition of the west wing in 1874, of the north in 1881, of the south in 1885 and finally, of the east wing. The building was erected in a large plot donated by Helen Tositsa, with the financial support of Demetrios and Nicolaos Vernardakis, the Archaeological Society and the Greek state.

The building of the museum was originally designed by the architect Ludwig Lange but his plans were partially modified by Panages Kalkos and later, by Harmodios Vlachos and Ernst Ziller, who completely rearranged the facade and changed the plan of the east wing and the central hall. Two additions were made on the east side of the building; a new wing was constructed in the early 20th century based on the plans of Anastasios Metaxas and a two-storeyed building, designed by G. Nomikos, was erected in 1932-39.

The well organized museum was founded with the purpose of housing the Goulandris private collection of Cycladic Art. It is one of the leading museums in Athens.

The Museum is dedicated to the study and promotion of ancient cultures of the Aegean and Cyprus, with special emphasis on Cycladic Art of the 3rd millennium BC.

Today, in the galleries of the MCA the visitor can approach three major subjects:

- the Cycladic Culture of the Early Bronze Age ( 3200 - 2000 BC)
- the Ancient Greek Art , from the Bronze Age to Late Roman times (2nd millenium BC - 4th century AD)
- the Cypriot Culture from the Chalcolithic Age to the Early Christian period (4th millenium BC - 6th century AD)

Open hours: Monday 10:00-16:00 Tuesday closed Wednesday 10:00-16:00 Thursday 10:00-16:00 (10:00-20:00) Friday 10:00-16:00 Saturday 10:00-15:00 Sunday closed

Address 4, Neophytou Douka str.

The Athens Numismatic Museum is one of the five most important numismatic museums in the world, and the only one in Greece and the Balkans. It has around 600,000 coins, which range chronologically from Greek antiquity through the Roman and Byzantine periods and the Middle Ages in Western Europe into Modern times. The collection also includes ancient coin hoards, excavation records, lead sealings, medallions and precious stones, either donated or bought by the museum itself.

Open hours 08:30-15:00 (winter-time)
Address 12 El. Venizelou Str. (Panepistimiou Str.), Τ.Κ. 10671, Athens

The Byzantine and Christian Museum is one of the most important museums in the world. Founded in 1914, the collections of the Christian Archaeological Society, which were amassed primarily by Georgios Lambakis, one of the Society's founding members, in the period up to 1884 and exhibited in a room in the National Archaeological Museum, formed the core of the new Museum.
Originally housed in the basement of the Academy of Athens, the Byzantine and Christian Museum opened to the public in 1924. In September 1930, the Museum took up permanent residence in the Villa Ilissia, a suite of buildings on the banks of the Ilisos built by Stamatios Kleanthis, the architect, in 1848 for Sophie de Marbois-Lebrun, the French Duchess of Plaisance. The central building, which resembles a Tuscan villa of the Renaissance, was converted into a museum by Aristotelis Zachos in 1928

Address 22 Vasilissis Sophias, Athens 106 75