Museums & Archaeological Sites in Athens

Museums in Greece - Archaeological sites

ANCIENT AGORA. The Ancient Agora Museum was founded in 1957, after the reconstruction of the Stoa of Attalos by the American School of Classical Studies(1953-56). The Stoa was originally built by Attalos II, king of Pergamon (159-138 BC.), as a token of his gratitude to the city of Athens. The Museum display consists of finds from the excavations of the ancient Agora . Adriannou str. 24 - Thission. Tel 32.10.185. Open daily 8:30 a.m. - 2:45 p.m.. Monday closed. Entrance fee 4 Euro.

BYZANTINE AND CHRISTIAN. The Byzantine Museum in Athens was founded in 1914 and is one of the national museums of Greece.Since 1930 it has been housed in the fine "Ilisia" building complex, erected near the river Ilisos in 1848 by the architect Stamatios Kleanthis for Sophia de Marbois, the Duchess of Piacenza (ancient Placentia). Unique collections of icons, sculptures, wall - paintings, ecclesiastical vestments, jewellery and other works of minor art from the 4th to the 19th century. Recently renovated museum shop. Vas. Sophias Ave.22, Tel. 72.11.027. Open Tuesday - Sunday 8:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. Closed Mondays. Admission 1.50 Euro.

JEWISH MUSEUM OF GREECE. Its collection, which includes more than 7.500 artifacts, reflects the life, customs, rites and traditions of Greek Judaism. Nikis str. 39 - Syntagma 105 58 . Tel. 32.25.582. Open daily 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Saturday closed, Sunday 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Entrance fee 1.50 Euro.

NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM. The National Archaeological Museum is one of the largest in Greece and one  of most important museums in the world devoted to ancient Greek art. The neoclassical Museum building was founded in 1866 on a plot donated by Eleni Tositsa and was brought to completion in 1889 under the supervision of the German architect Ernst Ziller. It was constructed to house unique works of art from Greek antiquity, and its galleries are a panorama of the long evolution of ancient Greek art from the prehistoric period to Late Roman antiquity.

 Patission 44 (28th October street.) Tel. 82. 17.717. Opening days and hours: Winter hours ( 16th October to 31st March) Tuesday - Sunday: 8:30 - 15:00. Monday: 10.30 - 17.00 and Holidays 8.30 - 15.00 Summer hours (1st April to 15th October) Tuesday- Sunday: 8.00 - 19:00  Monday 12.30. - 19.00 Holidays: 8.30 - 15.00. The Museum is closed on 1st January, 25th March, 1st May, Easter Sunday, Christmas and Boxing Day. Entrance fee 6 Euro. Minimum required time to visit a museum like this 2 hours.

NATIONAL HISTORICAL. The  museum should be visited by those who are interested in modern Greece and more especially in the period from the fall of Byzantine (1453) to the end of the Second World War. A big part is dedicated to the Greek war of independence against the Turks (1821-1830)  . Stadiou Str.13 & Kolokotroni. Tel. 32.37.617. Open daily 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Monday closed. Entrance fee 3 Euro. Sunday free entrance.

ACROPOLIS MUSEUM For the first time after the completion of the archaeological excavations on the rock, all important findings of the Acropolis will be exhibited together within a single area of 14.000 square meters with the main aim of narrating the history of the Acropolis and its foothills. From prehistoric to classical times and then to Hellenistic, Roman and up to later antiquity, the rich collections of the museum will convey to the visitor the presence of man at the Acropolis. At the same time, the extensive ruins of the Ancient city of Athens, brought to surface at the site where the Museum is built, will enrich the exhibition programme. Acropolis Museum

FOUNDATION OF THE HELLENIC WORLD. Cultural Centre "HELLENIC COSMOS" World wide Web Address : http://www.hellenic-cosmos.gr/ . Interactive Virtual Reality presentations in the first and only VR Systems installed in Greece . Thems : The Ancient Olympia - A journey through Ancient Miletus- The Magic Wardrobe - The Traditional Olive Oil Press. Film productions. Internet cafe Exhibitions: "National Evants and Historical Memory", "Krossia, Chitones, Doulamades, Velades - 4000 years of Hellenic costume". Pireos Str.254 , Tavros 177 78 , Greece . Tel. (301)48.35.300. Opening hours: Mon. , Tues. 09.00 - 18.00, Wen., Thur., Fri. 09.00 - 21.00, Sat. 11.00 - 15.00, for Winter and closed for the Summer. Sun. 10.00 - 15.00  new!

MUSEUM OF GREEK FOLK ART. The visitor begins to know the richness of the modern Greek folk civilization through the unique collections of embroideries, woven fabrics, traditional costumers, silver ware, ceramics, wood - covings, figures of the shadow theatre, popular paintings. The objects of these collections cover a chronological period from 1650 to this day. At the ground floor there is the renovated Museum's shop with selected works of contemporary handicraft, inspired from traditional subjects as well as replicas from the exhibits. Kydathineon Str. 17 , Plaka, Athens. Tel. 32.29.031. Museum visiting hours : Tuesday - Sunday 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Mondays closed. Entrance fee 1.50 Euro.

TRADITIONAL POTTERY . The museum of tradidional Pottery is housed in a beautiful neo - classical building, built in 1875 and recently renovated, at the area of Keramikos. In the rooms of the museum you see the different types of workshops which used to operate in various areas of Greece like Crete, Cyclades, Lesbos, Messenian Gulf. In the museum's shop you will find ceramic masterpieces made by traditional patterns, books, postcards all at very good prices. Melidoni Str. 4-6 Athens 105 53 (Kerameikos). Open hours: Monday to Friday 09:00 - 15:00, Sunday 10:00 - 14:00.

CYCLADIC ART . Over 1000 objects of Cycladic and ancient Greek art (dating from the 3rd millennium BC to the 4th c. AD) are displayed in the galleries on the three floors of the museum of Cycladic art. The Museum has one the most important collections of Cycladic art worldwide. In the New Wing of the Museum, the Stathatos Mansion ( a nineteenth century neoclassical building designed by Ernst Ziller) there is the exhibition "The city beneath the city". Neophytou Douka Street 4, Kolonaki, Athens. Tel. 72.28.321-3, Fax 72.39.382. Website: http://www.cycladic-m.gr,

NUMISMATIC. You can admire this exclusive exhibition of 2.500 coins, representative of all the periods of the Greek history in a neoclassical building, the former house of Heinrich Schliemann. On the first floor there is a gift shop where, except from books, posters and booklets, the visitor can also buy direct copies of ancient Greek coins, in silver. El. Venizelou Str. 12 (Panepistimiou). Tel. 36.43.774. Open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Mondays closed. Entrance fee 2.50 Euro.

FRISSIRA . The only Museum of Contemporary European Painting in Greece houses the Frissiras Collection - that numbers more than 3.000 works of art- as well as temporary exhibitions. Housed in two impressive, fully renovated neoclassic buildings in Plaka, the Museum has an Art Shop with high quality art works. Monis AsteriouStr. 3&7. Plaka. Tel. 32.34.678. - 33.16.027. Open Wed. to Fri. 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Satur. and Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Mon. and Tues. closed.