Museums & Archaeological Sites in Athens

  Acropolis Museum The New Museum of the Acropolis will provide services that can be expected from a 21st century museum. Service areas prevail on the ground floor. The visitors enters into a large anteroom housing a sales shop, a refreshment stand overlooking the archaeological excavation,  a 200-seat amphitheatre, an area of periodic exhibitions and a virtual reality room. The entresol has a gallery with multimedia and a restaurant providing a panoramic view of the Acropolis. Provisions have been made for the easy access of persons with special needs.

The New Museum of the Acropolis is situated in the historic area of Makriyannis, southeast of the Rock just opposite the Dionysus theatre.

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 3 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 3 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.)  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 8 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.

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!

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.

WAR MUSEUM. An interesting trip to the most important moments of the Greek history. Rizari Str. 2 . Athens. Tel. 72.52.975 -6. Open daily 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Monday closed . Entrance free.

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./

Sundays in the period between November 1st and March 31stThe first Sunday of every month, except for July, August and September
(when the first Sunday is holiday, then the second is the free admission day, etc.)

January 6th (Epiphany)

• Shrove Monday in March

• March 6th (in memory of Melina Merkoure)

• April 18th (International Monuments Day)

• Easter Monday

• May 18th (International Museums Day)

• June 5th (International Environment Day)

• Holy Spirit Day in June

• August 15th: Religious day

• The last weekend of September every year (European Heritage Days)

• October 28th (National holiday)

Sites in Athens

The Agora, with the nearby hill of the Areopagus, is Athens' other main area of archaeological interest. Originally an open space crossed by the Panathenaic Way, the Agora was quickly flanked by large numbers of public buildings and adorned with temples and altars, stoas and fountains.

It acquired its final form in the 2nd c. AD. Its most prominent structures today are the modern reconstruction of the Stoa built by Attalos II of Pergamum in the 2nd century B.C. now housing the Agora Museum and the Doric Temple of Hephaestus (Theseion), still miraculously intact. Built in Pentelic marble in the same period as the Parthenon, the temple is still an important landmark in the lower part of Athens. It is about 32m (105 ft) long and 14m (46 ft) wide, with 6 columns at the ends and 13 at the sides. Its plans appears conventional Doric, but its cella resembles the larger one in the Parthenon.

ROMAN AGORA. The Agora, which extends over the north-west slopes of the Acropolis, was the heart of ancient Athens in Roman times and it became an agora, a place for political gatherings and debate, for elections, religious occasions and trading activities, theatrical performances and athletic competitions. Open daily 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Closed on Monday. Entrance fee 4 Euro. Do not miss the Tower of the Winds.

SOUTHERN SIDE OF THE ACROPOLIS. Sanctuary of Dionyssos, where one can see the most ancient theater of Greece. Tel. 32.24.625. Open daily 8:00 a.m. - 2:30p.m. Entrance fee 3 Euro.

KERAMIKOS CEMETERY AND DIPILO.  The Kerameikos, the largest Cemetery of ancient Athens, was situated outside the city wall. From the 6c BC. the graves were marked with gravestones and statues which were most flamboyant in the age of Pericles. Iera Pili ke Dipilo  The Sacred Gate was built at the same time as Themistocles' wall (5c BC.) and marks the beginning of the Sacred Way to Eleusis . The Dipylon, which dates from the same period, was a double gate with a square tower at each corner and the main entrance to Athens. Hermes Str. 148. Tel. 34.63.552. Open daily 8:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Closed on Monday. Entrance fee 3 Euro.

The temple was not completed until AD 132 under Emperor Hadrian who also erected a colossal statue of Zeus. Of the 84 original marble columns only 15 remain.  Vas.Olgas Str. 1 Tel. 92.26.630. Open daily 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Entrance fee 2 Euro.

ADRIAN'S GATE. An impressive Roman monument of the city. It was built in 131 AD. with Pentelic marble to honor the Roman Emperor Adrian. It marked the border between the old city and the new city of Athens. Free entrance.

PHILOPAPPOS HILL. A beautiful hill opposite the Acropolis with the nicest view of the Parthenon (The temple of the Goddess Athena / Do not miss it ). The grave monument of Philoppapos decorates the top of the hill. Entrance free.

ARIOS PAGOS / MARS HILL. The oldest court of ancient Athens. The place where the gospel was first preached in Athens by the Apostle of the Nations, St. Paul. Entrance free.

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