Museum of Criminology

What I can see

The Criminological Museum has collections of the history of the museum, war material, sorcery objects, forged blanks, loops, shoes (through which death from electrocution or fall from a height is certified) and physical evidence of legal interest. More specifically, poisonous mushrooms, drugs, reagents, powder types, fragments from the bombing of Piraeus, waxworks of judicial importance, photographs of criminal acts of the 19th and early 20th century, the bayonet of the bandit Giagkoulas with a vindictive inscription, reminding of Robin Hood, and heads of beheaded bandits, declared outlaws by Eleftherios Venizelos, are exhibited. Paradoxically taking pictures of these heads is banned as it is seen to insult the dead, but their display is not.

What I can't see

It is one of the 12 museums of the University of Athens. It belongs to the Department of Forensics and Toxicology of the Medical School. This may be a reason why the museum has a more positivistic/forensic approach and fails therefore to highlight certain criminal aspects and the changing perception of whether they would constitute a crime or not depending on where and when in history they took place. Moreover, the space is notably small, and it is not museologically marked. Nevertheless, it is a museum, which apart from its exhibits, is intended to promote praxis and research. The nature of the displays does not allow for general opening hours, but only by appointment.

Info

• Address: 75 M. Asias St.
• Postal Code : 11527
• Contact Name: Maria Stefanidou
• Phone: +30 210 7462418, 7462406
• E-mail: [email protected]
• Website: http://www.criminology-museum.uoa.gr/

Bibliography