National Museum

In Athens, there is a world-class national museum focusing on the archaeological cultural heritage of classical Greece. Additionally, the old parliament building houses the National Historical Museum. Similar themes are explored by the Museum of Greek Culture, part of the Benaki Museums. The National Museum on Stadiou Street is comparable to European national museums established in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The construction of the National Museum in Finland began in 1905.

The National Museum operates in the old parliament building (architects Francois Boulanger and Panagiotis Kalkos). The parliament was housed in the building from 1875 to 1935. The photo is from March 2022. Photo by OI
The parliamentary chamber has been preserved and is used, among other things, as a conference space.


The Athens museum was established in 1882. Like National Museums in general, its goal was to strengthen national identity. According to its website, the museum tells the story of modern Greek history: the period of Ottoman and Latin rule, the Greek War of Independence (1821), the struggles for liberation, and the creation of an independent state.


The museum is interesting, as national museums generally are. There aren't many institutions through which nations reflect on their past and identity. In Greece, it's particularly interesting that there are at least two museums referred to as National Museums – one focusing on classical Greek culture and the other on modern Greek national history.

Exhibition Photos

However, the contents and exhibition techniques could use updating, similar to the recent updates to the narratives at the National Museum in Helsinki. For those interested in national history in Athens, a better destination might be the Museum of Greek Culture at the Benaki Museums. Its presentation is also somewhat conservative, but the collection is more comprehensive, and the display is of higher quality.


 

The exhibition is divided into rooms, with introductory texts leading to their contents. The text attached to the mirror on the door of Room 2 talks about Greece under Latin and Ottoman rule.
 

"Latin rule in the Greek region began in 1204 when crusaders looted Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade, and the Byzantine Empire was divided into several feudal states.


The Byzantines recaptured Constantinople in 1261, but the glory of the empire was only temporarily restored. Latin and Turkish pressures, along with internal decay, were decisive for the end of Byzantium. Constantinople finally fell to the Ottomans in 1453, and the Venetians, Genoese, and Franks, wanting to maintain commercial bases on the trade routes to the East, found themselves in acute competition with the Ottoman Empire, just as they had been with Byzantium.


In 1669, the Ottomans completed the conquest of Crete and solidified their dominance in the eastern Mediterranean. At the end of the last war between Venice and Turkey in 1718, Venetian presence was limited to the Ionian Islands and a few areas on the opposite mainland. Throughout this turbulent period, the Greeks fought for their livelihood and cohesion, not only surviving but also creating conditions that would lead to national and spiritual revival in the following centuries."

Chainmail and cuirass adorned with Quranic verses from the 17th century. They bear a stamp associated with the arsenal of Sultan Mehmed II.
There is also a (modern) statue of the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos (1449–1453), on display. The museum's object text states that "the emperor died defending Constantinople against the Ottoman armies of Sultan Mehmed II. His heroic death became a lasting legend." However, the statue does not depict the emperor as a warrior but rather as a defender of faith, a clergyman, or a saint. The museum notes that the emperor's death and the end of Byzantium also marked the beginning of modern Greek history.
The Greek king was selected from Bavaria. In the display case is King Otto's Greek attire.
The photograph of the king is a detail from the lower part of the showcase.
Location: Stadiou 13, Athina 105 61, Kreikka

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