Numismatic Museum

What I can see

The rich collections of the museum contain currently about 500,000 coins covering the entire course of the currency from its birth until today. It is the only museum of its kind in the Balkans and one of the few in the world. The building is of Italian Renaissance order (arches) in combination with neoclassical order (pediments). The facade has two arches on Ionic columns, while previously there were also clay statues along the crown of the building. Copies of these statues are in the garden of the Hall, where today operates a cute cafe. On the front we see the inscription “Ilion Melathron”, the building/ mansion of Troy. On its three sides, it is surrounded by garden. The interior is richly decorated with frescoes of Pompeian order. One of them depicts Schliemann discovering Troy. There are also mural poems and jewelry paintings and the floors are mosaics with depictions of Mycenaean and Trojan findings.

What I can't see

It was designed by Ernst Ziller and is considered his best work. Owner of the mansion was Heinrich Schliemann, an admirer of Homer, ancient Greek culture and archeology and explorer of Troy and Mycenae. From his personal correspondence with his wife Sophia Schliemann and other evidence too, we can conclude he was a bit stingy. Very characteristic are for example the complaint letters he received from his wife, who was complaining about many issues such as the cold temperatures in the huge mansion, which was the first in Athens with heating installation. The creation of the numismatic museum happened in the 19th century, the era of the great flourishing of philhellenism and the peak of the ideals of classical civilization. The trend of creating archaeological museums and preserving ancient treasures could not exclude coins from all around the country.

Info

• Address: 12 Panepistimiou/ El. Venizelou St.
• Postal Code : 10671
• Phone: +30 210 3632057, 3612834, 3612872
• E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]
• Website: http://www.nma.gr

Bibliography