Greek museums and archaeological sites in Greece

Museums in Greece

Photos by Nick

Museums in Athens

Archaeological sites

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.

THE MUSEUM OF THE OLIVE: The museum of the Olive and Greek Olive Oil, in Sparta has been founded and designed by the Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation (PIOP), which is also responsible for its operation and opened the doors to the public in December 2002. It is housed in the renovated premises of the old Electricity Company, which were made available by the Municipality of Sparta. The project was included by the EU Second Framework, after inclusion in the Regional Operational Programmers for the Peloponnesus and the Museum operates under the direction of the Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation.

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.) Tel. 82. 17.717. 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 6 Euro. Minimum required time to visit a museum like this 2 hours.

DELPHI. Few statues have ever acquired so great and well deserved a fame as the bronze charioteer which originally belonged to a larger group which represented a chariot with four horses from which only small fragments survived. Its height is 1.8 m and is made up from six separate cast parts. Dedicated by Polyzalos, tyrant of the Sicilian city of Gela, for his victory in the race at the Pythian Games, probably in 474 BC. it is admired for its superb art.

SPARTA - ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM: The museum was established in 1874, in a building designed by the Greek architect Katsaros. The most important items of the museum are: Stele depicting couple of figures in relief, on both sides. On the one side perhaps there is the representation of Menelaus with Helen and on the other Agamemnon with Clytemnestra, dated to the end of the 6th century. Statue of Hoplitodromos (running Hoplite) with helmet of Attic type. It has been argued that the statue of a Spartan hoplite, the best known of the very few surviving Laconian sculptures portrays King Leonidas, leader of the Three Hundred warriors who fell heroically fighting against the Persians at Thermopile in 480 BC. According to another view, it represents Pausanias, victor of the battle of Plataeae, or even a competitor in a race for armed runners It was found in the temple Of Athena Chalkioikos at the acropolis of Sparta. It preserves the upper part of the body but hands are missing. It is dated to the second quarter of the 5th century BC.

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.

CORINTH - ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM: The museum was established in 1912 . The collections consist of most of the pieces produced by the excavations.

Vargina -Aegae Museum

Opening Hours for Archaeological Sites, Museums and Monuments

October 15th - March 31st: Daily: 08.00-15.00

April 1st - October14th: Daily: 08.00 - 19.30

Holidays closed: December 25th to 26th, January 1st, March 25th, Good Friday (until 12.00), Easter Sunday, May 1st

The ticket ( 12 euro /per person) is valid for the Archaeological Sites of Athens
(Acropolis site and museum, Ancient Agora, Theatre of Dionysos
Kerameikos, Olympieion, Roman Agora).

Telephone: +30 - 2103214172 - 2103210219 - 2109238724

Days of free admission for all visitors

Sundays in the period between November 1st and March 31st
The 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)