List of all museums in Athens Greece

A city with a history that is lost in the centuries, Athens preserves modern and archaeological treasures of global scope in museums and cultural sites that characterize its special identity.

Almost all of them you have at least heard of, and most of them you probably visited at some point as a student. Unfortunately, your age then did not allow you to appreciate some things as perhaps you should, nor does it allow you now, after some years, to remember what you saw.

So here we have collected for you a short list of the “must see” museums in Athens, without of course that means that you have to limit yourself there!

National Archaeological Museum

The National Archaeological museum of Athens is the largest archaeological museum in the country, but also one of the most important in the world of its kind.

With more than 11,000 exhibits are included in its collections, among which stand out the bronze statue of Poseidon, the funerary stele of Aegis, the teenager of Antikythera and the objects from the excavations of Mycenae. It also has an important Egyptian collection, as well as a collection of Cypriot antiquities.

The museum is housed in the imposing neoclassical building, built at the end of the 19th century at Patision street next to Athens Polytechnic. (official page)

National Historical Museum

The National Historical Museum of Atehns It has been housed since 1960 in the Old Parliament Building on Stadiou Street and has unique historical documents: paintings and engravings, weapons, flags, personal items of historical figures, documents and photographs, household utensils, tools, traditional costumes and works of modern Greek craftsmanship tell the story of course of the Greek nation from the fall of Constantinople to the Greco-Italian war of 1940-41. In the shop you will find great ideas for gifts and souvenirs. (official page)

Acropolis Museum

The new Acropolis museum opened its doors in June 2009 in Dionysiou Areopagitou, in a modern building designed by the internationally renowned architect Bernard Tsoumi overlooking the Holy Rock of the Acropolis to house the 4,000 great finds of the Acropolis.

The visit is a unique experience. On the first floor is the collection of archaic sculptures, including daughters, as well as exhibits from the Erechtheion and the Temple of Athena Nike.

On the second floor there is a shop (as on the ground floor) and the museum restaurant with a view of the Acropolis, while the top floor of the building is dedicated to the sculptures of the Parthenon, originals as well as copies of those found abroad.

Museum of Cycladic Art

The Cycladic art museum was founded in 1986 to house the collection of Nikolaos and Dollis Goulandris and was gradually enriched with other donations. Today, its exhibits are divided into three major thematic sections: Cycladic art (3200 – 2000 BC), ancient Greek art (2000 BC – 395 AD) and ancient Cypriot art (3900 BC). – 6th century AD). Interesting periodical exhibitions, good shop, cute café-resto in a beautiful patio. Officia; page

Benaki Museum

One of the most popular private museums in Athens, which is located in the impressive neoclassical building of the Benaki family, opposite the National Garden and has several annexes, such as the multipurpose hall at 138 Piraeus Street and the Kerameikos building complex that houses the Islamic art collections.

The collections housed in the main building present the main historical periods of the Greek area, from prehistoric times to the beginning of the 20th century. Do not miss to visit the large shop, but also the café-restaurant with the unique terrace overlooking the National Garden (oficcial page)

Museum of Greek Folk Art

It has a complete collection of representative samples of embroidery, weaving, costumes, disguises, shadow theater, silversmithing, metalwork, ceramics, woodcarving, folk painting and stone carving that help us get to know the folk culture of Greece.

The main building is located on Kydathinaion Street in Plaka and has three more spaces: the Tzisdaraki Mosque in Monastiraki Square where the Ceramics Collection of V. Kyriazopoulos is housed, the “Bathroom of the Airs” and the building at 22 Panos Street which houses the permanent exhibition “Men and Tools: Aspects of Work in Pre-Industrial Society”.

Byzantine Museum

It is considered one of the most important museums internationally for the art and culture of the Byzantine and post-Byzantine era, with over 25,000 exhibits, dating from the 3rd to the 20th century and mostly coming from the wider Greek, Asia Minor and Balkan areas.

It is housed in the impressive Villa Ilissia, the winter palace of the famous Duchess of Placentia, on Vasilissis Sofias Street. website

Kerameikos Museum

Inside the archaeological site of Kerameikos, this small museum houses objects of a mainly funerary nature, which come from the excavations of the German Archaeological Institute in the necropolis of Kerameikos. Outstanding funerary works are on display, such as the archaic marble sphinx and the relief of Amfarete with her grandson.

Museum of the Ancient Agora

The Museum of the Ancient Agora, located inside the homonym archaeological site, housed in the restored building of the Stoa of Attalos, which dates back to around 150 BC. The findings of the excavations of the Ancient Agora from Neolithic times to the post-Byzantine years and the era of the Turkish occupation are exhibited here. Among its most important exhibits are bronze judicial plaques, a clay hourglass, bronze judicial votes and ostracism shells inscribed with the names of famous men of antiquity.

Epigraphic Museum

Unique in our country and the largest of its kind worldwide, located in the south wing of the ground floor of the National Archaeological Museum. It stores over 13,500 inscriptions, written mainly in the Greek language. Some of its rooms are exclusively for specialist scholars. Its most impressive exhibit is the colossal columns with the tax lists of the Athenian League, which reach up to 3.5 meters in height.

Numismatic Museum

The unique museum of its kind in the Balkans, housed in Ilio Melathron, a real jewel of Athens, the work of Ernestos Ziller. On the first floor of the building on Panepistimi Street, the history of the building and currency in the ancient Greek world are presented, while on the second floor, among other things, Roman, Byzantine and medieval coinage, as well as currency in the modern world and the new Greek state. There is a café in its beautiful courtyard.

Kanellopoulos Museum

It is considered to have one of the largest private collections of antiquities in the country, comprising over 6,000 artefacts and works of art, dating from prehistoric to modern times. The collection was donated to the Greek state and is housed in a neoclassical mansion at the foot of the Acropolis.

National Gallery

It is the most important institution of the history of Greek and Western European art in Greece. From the time it was founded in 1900 until today, it has managed to gather in its collections more than 17,000 works of painting, sculpture, engraving and other forms of art, covering a period from the post-Byzantine years to the present day, with an emphasis on Renaissance and Greek painting. Important periodical exhibitions are also organized in the building at the junction of Vasileos Konstantinou and Vasilissis Sofias streets (where it has been since 1976), while since 2004 the National Sculpture Gallery has been operating in Alsos Stratou in Goudi.

National Museum of Modern Art

The only state institution that focuses on the contemporary art scene of the country, as well as international currents. Although the works for the permanent housing of the museum in the former Fix factory have not yet been completed, its exhibition program hosted in the interesting modernist building of the Athens Conservatory continues as usual.

Frisiras Museum

Private Museum of Contemporary European Painting, founded by the Vlasis Frisiras family. Its important collections include paintings, drawings, sculptures and engravings by European and Greek artists after 1940, with the main feature being the human element. It is housed in two magnificent neoclassical buildings in Plaka.

Children’s Museum

It was founded in 1987 by a group of young scientists in Plaka. Its goal is the planning and implementation of educational programs for children both in the Children’s Museum and in other museums and places of culture and education. It is one of children’s first museum experiences and is aimed at children up to 12 years old, parents and teachers.

Jewish Museum

It was founded in 1977 in a neoclassical building in Plaka, near Syntagma, to exhibit the material remains of 2300 years of Jewish life in Greece. Its collection consists of 10,000 original objects, photographs, documents and archives, interesting material from the daily and religious life of Greek Jews. Among them, the objects from the Holocaust stand out. (website)

Museum of Islamic Art

This collection of the Benaki Museum is presented independently in a beautiful neoclassical building near the cemetery of Kerameikos. It includes more than 8,000 specimens of ceramics, textiles, woodcarving and other arts, tombstones and weapons, covering a long period of Islamic civilization from the 7th to the 19th century. Among the most famous works of the collection are the two Mesopotamian door panels, the Tiberias straw carpet and the Bursa velvet saddle, while an impressive representation of the marble reception hall of a 17th-century mansion from Cairo is impressive. “Hidden” café with a nice view on the roof. (website)

War Museum of Athens

At the junction of Vasilissis Sofias and Rizari streets is the imposing modern building of the museum. Here you can see the exhibition of war relics from the Stone Age to World War II. The first rooms are dedicated to antiquity, Byzantium and the Frankish period, while the sections related to modern Greece are interesting. Warplanes are on display in the courtyard, some of which can be entered into the cockpit. (website)

Museum of the City of Athens

In one of the oldest neoclassical complexes of the city in Klathmonos Square (which was also used as a temporary residence of the first royal couple of the country) the latest history of Athens is presented, since it was declared the capital of the New Hellenic State. Impressive halls with Othon’s and Amalia’s salons. website

Museum of Greek Folk Musical Instruments

In an old mansion next to the Roman Agora is the museum that was created from the collection of Phoebus Anogianakis, which was donated to the Greek state. These are 1200 Greek folk musical instruments, the fruit of 40 years of research by the musicologist.

Half of them are exhibited in the museum in special cases with headphones, so that the visitor can hear the sound of each instrument. An excellent collection of folk music CDs is available in the shop, while the Center for Ethnomusicology, housed in the same space, organizes folk instrument lessons.

Center for the Study of Modern Ceramics

The foundation of the G. Psaropoulos family next to the archaeological site of Kerameikos is dedicated to the research, rescue and promotion of Greek utilitarian ceramics from the beginning of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th. In addition to maps, drawings, photographs and audio-visual media, representations of ceramic workshops are used to display the art, and authentic ceramics can be purchased from the shop. The Center also organizes pottery courses and seminars. (website)

Jewelry Museum

The only museum for modern jewelry in Greece. It is located in a separate building from the beginning of the 20th century, in a lane of Dionysiou Areopagitou, which used to be the workshop of Ilias Lalaounis. The museum’s permanent collections today include over 4,000 pieces of jewelry and miniature sculptures from 50 collections designed by its founder, from 1940 to 2000.

Railway Museum

If you like trains then you should not miss the collection of historical carriages of the Hellenic Railways Organization located in Sepolia. Here you will see locomotives from 1884, old train carriages, Athenian trams from decades past, instruments, tickets, uniforms and machine tools from the previous century. Of particular interest are the royal vehicles and the smoking vehicle of Abdul Aziz’s Sultan’s train.

Philatelic Museum

Next to Kallimarmaro is this museum that teaches us more about the Postal and Philatelic history of Greece. Admire, among other things, the first Greek postage stamp and the first Olympic stamps in the world. Philatelists will find additional interesting material for sale.

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