National Archaeological Museum of Athens

What I can see

National Archaeological Museum of Athens is the largest museum of the country, with a gross floor area of 8,000 sqm, as well as one of the most important museums of the world. It is a protected historical monument with more than 11 thousands exhibits, which offer the visitor a spherical view of the ancient Greek civilization and represents a period of 7,000 years, from the prehistorical era up to the Late Antiquity. The treasures of the royal vaults of Mycenae, the Linear B script plates, Cycladic figurines made of stone, Thera’s frescoes (“Fighters”, “Spring” and “Antelopes”), bronze statues, the computing mechanism of Antikythera, Kouri and Korai statues, burial headstones, the “Aphrodite and Faun” marble statue complex, the “Mycenaean” (fresco), the “Poseidon of Artemisio” bronze statue, the “Young man from Antikythera” statue, the “Boy from Marathon” complex, Nestor’s tankard and the Egyptian and Near Eastern Antiquities Collection are some of the most important exhibits of the museum. Among the specifications implemented by the architectural competition, was one dictating the building’s compartmentation based on the kind of the exhibits and the chronological order, a specification complied to up to nowadays.

What I can't see

Prior to the construction of the museum, the antiquities were kept scattered in many places, such as ancient buildings, universities, and churches. The Greeks had since very early realized the need for a proper National Archaeological Museum built at the standards of the grand European museums and collections. At the beginning, several places had been proposed for the construction of the central museum of Athens, such as by the temple of Hephaestus in Thissio (proposed by Ludwig Lange), by the Dionysus ancient theatre (proposed by Theophil Hansen), behind the old University building (proposed by Ernst Ziller); however, thanks to the specific site donated by Εleni Tositsa, the museum was finally constructed at its present location. The architectural designs bring several significant signatures, among which the one of Lange and of Ernst Ziller who was one of the successors of Panagiotis Kalkos, the leading architect, who  passed away during the process. The museum was built of stone from Lycabettus, marble from Penteli, Hymettus and Kokkinara, and architectural pieces from the theatre of Dionysus. During World War II, the treasures were buried in the basement of the museum, while the museum also hosted additional services which had been left “homeless” when the Germans had requisitioned their original buildings to use for other purposes. The exhibits are not the only reason why the National Archaeological Museum of Athens is very important; it is also known as a research centre of worldwide range, while it features contemporary labs as well as a library with quite a substantial number of titles.

Info

• Address: 1 Tositsa and Patision/28is Oktovriou St.
• Postal Code : 10682
• Phone: +30 210 8217724, 8217717
• E-mail: [email protected]
• Website: http://www.namuseum.gr/wellcome-gr.html

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