Museums of Athens

The building of the Byzantine Museum was formerly an 19th-century urban villa called Villa Ilisia. The museum is associated with a beautiful garden featuring antiquarian elements, and the Lyceum archaeological site is right next to the garden. The museum in April 2022. Photo by OI   The museum is one of Greece's national museums, focusing on religious artifacts and cultural heritage from the early Christian, Byzantine, medieval, post-Byzantine, and later periods. The museum's collection includes over 25,000 items from Greece and the Hellenistic area of influence. It is a great destination for visitors interested in Byzantium and its legacy. Villa Ilisia was one of the newly constructed buildings in the capital. New buildings and infrastructure were needed - in 1834, the city had only about 7,000 residents. The palace was built by the Duchess of Piacenza, who had an interesting background. Sophie de Marbois was born in Philadelphia, USA, in 1785, the daughter of the French state...

The Benaki museums have several branches in Athens and beyond. In this blog series,the Museum of Greek Culture and the Museum of Islamic Art in Athens are showcased. The Benaki Museum building was originally a family residence. It was opened in April 1931 as a museum. After renovation, the building was reopened on 7 June 2000. The building focuses on Greek culture and other objects from the Benaki collection are displayed elsewhere. Photo OI Antonis Benakis, like many of the people involved in the establishment of museums in Athens or the accumulation of collections, was an expatriate Greek. He was born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1873, moved to Athens permanently in 1926 and died in 1954. Benakis was an avid collector. After the death of his father Emmanuel, Antonis bequeathed his collection and his parents' home to the Greek State. Image from the museum brochure   The Benaki Museum of Greek Culture is located near Evangelismos metro station. Around the station is a museum cluster, wh...

The Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation collection is undoubtedly one of the most important private collections of fine art assembled in the second half of the 20th century. The museum showcasing the collection in Athens (Eratosthenous 13) is well worth a visit. After seeing the museum, it is worthwhile to go visit Athens' famous marble stadium. It was built on the site of an ancient stadium (originally built in 330 BC) to host the modern Olympic Games. The stadium is just a short walk from the museum.   In front of the Goulandris Art Museum and the adjacent church building, a staircase forms a small town square. Photo OI Floor plan of the museum as pictured in the third floor exit plan. The museum auditorium is seen on the left of the floor plan. Photo OI Floor guide Basil & Elise Goulandris selected the works in their collection based on their personal preferences and their own aesthetic values, as most collectors do. According to the museum, the Goulandrises bought art i...