Museums of Athens

The Piraeus Archaeological Museum is indeed located in Piraeus, the port city of Athens. You can reach the port from Athens via metro line number 1, which is the old Athens-Piraeus railway line. Unlike other metro lines, this line runs mostly above ground, making for a somewhat bumpier ride than the other lines .  Museum Exhibition Hall, March 2022. Photo: OI Ancient objects found in Piraeus were initially displayed in a school building located right next to a Hellenistic-era theater. Map of ancient Piraeus. The museum and the ancient theater are marked with number 1, right next to the Zea harbor basin. Photo: OI In 1935, the exhibition space was officially designated as an archaeological museum and in 1966 planning was begun for a new, larger museum building, which was eventually opened in 1981 next to the old structure. The new museum has a total area of 1,400 m², while the old school building was repurposed for collection storage. The museum buildings now surround the ancient th...

 The War Museum is located in the same area as the National Gallery and the Byzantine Museum. While the Byzantine Museum houses excellent collections related to Byzantine art and cultural history, the War Museum offers the opportunity to view Byzantium from a different perspective, through the lens of warfare and the portrayal of emperors. War Museum, March 2022. Photo: OI The museum is situated in a modernist building – its architecture is reminiscent of Mies van der Rohe's Berlin Neue Nationalgalerie, somewhat like Turku's Wäinö Aaltonen Museum in Finland. The Athens museum opened in 1975. The War Museum begins its exhibition with Stone Age weapons and somewhat unexpectedly continues with the presentation of Cycladic art. Exhibit from the War Museum: Cycladic female marble figures. Early period, 2700-2300 BCE. Cycladic Art Museum. Replicas. Photo: OI Moving through Mycenae, the exhibition progresses to classical Greek sculpture, focusing on the warfare and warriors of the ti...

During the Roman era, a new commercial center emerged in Athens, known as the Roman Agora. It was built between 19 and 11 BCE, as the older Greek and Hellenistic era Agora had become filled with various activities. The Roman Agora was designated for commercial activities. The western entrance of the Roman Agora, the Athena Archegetis Gate, photographed in March 2022. The picture was taken from inside the Agora. Photo: OI An image on an information board showing the buildings in the area. The old Agora is in the foreground, and the Roman Agora is depicted in color. In the lower part of the information board is the Athena Archegetis Gate. To the right is the Church of Sotira near Pazaroporta, and in the background are the churches of Taxiarchs and Prophitis Ilias. (Chr. Hansen, 1833) The Roman Agora and other key ancient archaeological sites placed on the current map of Athens. The image is from an information board. A combined ticket provides access to these sites. The map also indicate...

Olympieion, with its freely standing and collapsed columns, is a charming, almost Piranesi-like quality image of ancient ruins. On the edge of the archaeological site lies Hadrian's Gate.   Olympieion in March 2022. Photo by OI In March 2022, the restoration of the temple was in progress. Modern scaffolding created a new architectural layer for the site - for those who wish to view the site from a different perspective.   Several different building phases and structures have been discovered in the Olympieion area. The images include a map of the area and its explanation from an information board. At the top of the map is a Roman bath.   Olympieion was built in multiple phases. Pericles initiated the construction, but the work was interrupted after his era. The work resumed during the Hellenistic period around 100 BCE but was interrupted again.   In the 1820s, the Ilissos River still flowed freely. Edward Dodwell - Edward Dodwell: Views in Greece, London 1821, p. 59 (...