Byzantine and Christian Museum/ Ilission Mansion

What I can see

Among the Museum’s exhibits there are imperial seals, samples of coptic art, religious paintings of the Greek State, samples of devotional art from the Byzantine era and an architectural part of the Christian church to which the Parthenon was converted during the same period. The building consists of a main building at the back of the yard and two single-storey side wings, three levels deep. It has many classicist elements, such as its horizontal lines, which have been maintained, and the two towers on each side of the central building. The arches and the roof are among the byzantine elements, while a romantic element is the alternating light one can see inside the collonades. The building was named the “Ilissia Mansion” after the inscription “Ilissia” found on the main building.

What I can't see

The Byzantine and Christian Museum is one of the most important museums of Byzantine and post-Byzantine art in the world, with over 30,000 items in its permanent collection dating from the 3^rd to the 20^th centuries, mainly from Greece but also from the wider Balkan and Anatolian areas. Its exhibits come from various Christian monuments, private collections, and treasures brought by refugees from Asia Minor. The building did not house the museum originally, but was instead the winter residence of Sophie de Marbois-Lebrun (Duchess of Plaisance), who had contributed financially to the Greek Revolution. She adored the Greeks as well as the country’s climate, which was ideal for her ailing daughter. Before becoming a museum, the site housed the Evelpidon School (the highest military school) for a short time.

Info

• Address: 22 V. Sofias Av.
• Postal Code : 10675
• Phone: +30 213 2139572
• E-mail: info_@_byzantinemuseum.gr
• Website: http://www.byzantinemuseum.gr/

Bibliography