List of the most important museums in Athens
 NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF ATHENS
:
The National Archaeological Museum of Athens was founded in
1889 and is one of the most important Archaeological museums
in the world as it houses the historical past of one of the
greatest civilisations in the world .
In the museum there
are findings from all the places of ancient Greece and the
Greek world, the exhibits include, statues, vases,
jewellery, sculpture, weapons, religious items from the
Neolithic times, early Cycladic civilisation, the Minoan
civilisation, the classical and Hellenistic period and the
roman period.
 Among the most significant items of the museum
is the golden mask of Agamemnon and other treasures from
Mycenae, the statue of Poseidon of Artemision, the statue of
Zeus with thunder from Dodona, the lekithus of Myrrinae, the
bronze statue of the riding boy , the Marathon
boy, the statues of Asclepius, Demeter and Persephone,
a wonderful bronze statue of the young man from Antikythira,
the statue of Aphrodite and Pan, the King Nestor's cup and
the mechanism of Antikythira that it was probably used for
astronomical observations.
In the museum there are also a
huge collection of vases from the geometric period, a
collection of frescoes and other items from the findings in
Santorini (Thira) and a huge library. The Museum is located
in Patission street next to the Athens Polytechnic school.
The
new Acropolis Museum
The new museum of the Acropolis is under the
south slope of Acropolis in Dionyssiou Areopagitou street.
The metro station Acropolis takes you at the gate of the
museum. Contains mainly pediment sculpture, reliefs and statues
found on the rock of the
Acropolis, which formed part of the
decoration of its buildings or were dedicated to the goddess
Athena. Among the latter is the unique collection in the
world of statues of female figures of the archaic era known
as the "Korai" with the well known archaic smile, such as
the Kore of Lyons, the Kore of Naxos, the Kore of Chios, the
Peploforos Kore, the Kore of Antinor, the Kore of Euthidikos,
etc. From the remaining votive offering sculptures, those of
outstanding interest are the Moschoforos (man carrying a
calf across his shoulders), Rampin's horseman, a hunting
dog, the Boy by Kritias, the head of the blonde youth, etc.
There are also sphinxes, four-horse chariots and many votive
reliefs such as that of Lenormant, Athena in Meditation,
etc.
see our collection of pictures from the old Acropolis Museum
ANCIENT AGORA TEMPLE OF HEPHESTUS & STOA OF ATTALOS
MUSEUM, inside the Stoa of Attalos, Tel. 210
321-0185. Inside one will find artefacts from the Agora
(ancient market place) upstairs the visitor will see
miniature models of how the Acropolis and Agora looked
during the ancient times. The Attalos stoa is located
opposite Adrianou street in Monastiraki. From the main gate
you have access to the Agora archaeological site just under
the north slope of Acropolis and the museum.
 THE HISTORICAL MUSEUM OF ATHENS: The museum use to be the
old Parliament of Greece during the rein of King Otto, the first
king of Greece after the war of independence (many Greeks refer to
it as Palea Vouli (old parliament) . The building became the
National historical museum of modern Greece in 1962. Among its
exhibits are items from the modern Greek history from the revolution
of 1821 until the second world war. In the museum the visitor will
see uniforms and weapons of the Greek revolution as well as uniforms
and weapons from the Greek army during the Balkan wars and the 2
world wars. Portraits of the Greek leaders of the revolution, the
dresses of King Otto and Amalia and many other items from the
modern history of Greece. The museum is at Stadiou street 13 a short
walk from Syntagma square. Outside of the museum is the bronze
statue of Theodoros Kolokotronis the Great general of the Greek
revolution in 1821.
ATHENS CITY MUSEUM. The Athens city Museum is about the
modern history of Athens from the time that Athens became the
Capital of Greece. It has many paintings, individual collections and
artefacts from the the history, the culture and the way of life of
the modern city of Athens from the early 19th century to the middle
20th century , is located at 7 Paparigopoulou St., Tel.210
324-6164
THE GOULANDRIS MUSEUM OF CYCLADIC AND ANCIENT GREEK
ART: The well-organised museum was founded with the purpose of
housing the "Goulandris" private collection of Cycladic Art.
It is one of the leading museums in Athens. Exhibits. On the
1st floor you will find various relics of Cycladic
civilisation, while on the 2nd floor are miniatures and
other objects of the same period. On the 3rd floor are
temporary exhibitions of the museum while on the 4th floor
is the K. Politis collection of ancient Greek art. In 1992 a
new wing was added to the Museum, at the Stathatos Mansion.
In the new wing you can see the Academy of Athens collection
of ancient Greek art. On the basement of the building at N.
Douka you can buy replicas of museum exhibits.
THE BENAKI MUSEUM: The museum was founded from Antonis
Benakis s Greek expatriate from Alexandria. the museum has many
donations from various Greek collectors. Among its exhibits are
various works of art and paintings, rare manuscripts and books,
byzantine icons, items and archaeological findings from all the
historic periods of Greece.
THE NUMISMATIC MUSEUM :It is one of the five most important numismatic museums
in the world. It displays more than 600,000 coins,
"treasures" (closed coin collections), standard weights,
metals and precious stones, from the ancient Greek period,
the Roman period, Byzantium, the western Middle Ages, and
modernity. Location: Koumbari Str. and Vasilissis Sofias
Avenue.
THE WAR MUSEUM OF ATHENS The museum exhibits are
collections of the Greek Army, with material from the war history of
Greece from the prehistoric times to nowadays as well as war
artefacts from other countries. The museum is located at Rizari
street 2.
THE EPIGRAPHICAL MUSEUM : This museum has about 13000
epigraphic collections with Greek inscriptions from the early
historical times to the roman times and is located in the ground
floor of the National archaeological museum of Athens.
THE MUSEUM OF GREEK TRADITIONAL INSTRUMENTS: The museum
has a great collection of all kinds of traditional Greek instruments
from many areas of Greece. Here you can see the Greek equivalent of
the Scottish pipe the Tsampouna or Askos as it was called in the
antiquity, the Greek taburas, flute (flogera) , bouzouki,
clarinets, santouris and all kind of instruments that are used in
the Greek traditional music. The museum is located in Plaka at
Diogenous street 1.
THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS IN THE METRO The biggest excavation ever in Greece was dug at the time
of the construction of the metropolitan railway of Athens
(1993-2000). Some of the approximately 50,000 finds that
were uncovered in these excavations are exhibited in
specially designed spaces in the metro stops "Panepistimio,"
"Syntagma," Akropoli" and "Evangelismos".
TEMPLE OF THE OLYMPIAN ZEUS: The Temple of Zeus is
a worth visiting area as it is at the centre of Athens next
to the Zappeion exhibition centre. Within the area is the
Hadrian's Arch. Vas.Olgas and Amalias Ave., Tel. 210 922-6330
LOCATIONS AND TELEPHONES
The National Archaeological Museum: 144, Patision Str.
tel. 210 8217717, 210 8217724 The Acropolis Museum (in the
archaeological area): tel. 210 3236665, 210 3210219 The
Athens Ancient Agora Museum: Stoa tou Attalou, Archaea
Agora; tel. 210 3210185 The Kerameikos Museum: 148, Ermou
Str, tel. 210 3463552 The Epigraph Museum: 1, Tositsa Str,
tel. 210 8217637 The Numismatic Museum: 12, Panepistimiou
Str ("Iliou Melathron") tel. 210 3643774, 210 3612540
website: www.nm.culture.gr The Goulandris Museum of Cycladic
and Ancient Greek Art: 4, Neofytou Douka Str. tel. 210
7226321-3 website: www.cycladic-m.gr The Acropolis Research
Centre: 2-4, Makriyianni Str. tel. 210 9239381 The National
Historical and Ethnological Museum: 13, Stadiou Str, tel.
210 3237617 The Benaki Museum: 1, Koumbari Str. & Vas.
Sofias Avenue tel. 210 3671000 website: www.benaki.gr -
Piraeus Street building: 138, Pireaus Str. (Gazi) tel. 210
3453111 The Byzantine and Christian Museum: 22, Vas. Sofias
Avenue, tel. 210 7211027, 210 7232178 The War Museum: 2,
Rizari Str, tel. 210 7252974-6 The Museum of the City of
Athens: 5-7, Paparrigopoulou Str. (Klafthmonos Square) tel.
210 3246164 website: www.athenscitymuseum.gr The National
Gallery-Alexandros Soutzos Museum: Vasileos Konstantinou Avenue
tel. 210 7235857 The National Museum of Modern Art: Syngrou
Avenue, FIX building; tel. 210 9242111-2 The Athens
Municipal Gallery: Piraeus Str, Koumoundourou Square tel.
210 2231.841, 210 3240472 The Frissiras Museum: 3-7, Monis
Asteriou Str, Plaka tel. 210 3234678 website:
www.frissirasmuseum.com .The Greek Popular Art Museum: 17,
Kythathinaeon Str, Plaka tel. 210 3229031, 210 3213018 The
Greek Traditional Musical Instruments Museum: 1-3, Diogenous
Str, Plaka tel. 210 3250198 210 3254119-129 The Ceramics
Collection: Tzistaraki Mosque, Monastiraki tel. 210 3242006
The Greek Children's Museum: 14, Kythatinaeon Str. tel.
210 3312995-6 website: www.hcm.gr The Historical Museum of
the University of Athens: 5, Tholou Str, Plaka, tel. 210
3240861 The Kanellopoulos Museum: 12, Theorias Str & Panos
Str, Plaka tel. 210 3212313 The Theatrical Museum: 50,
Akadimias Str, tel. 210 3629430 |
