Museums of Athens

The Benaki Museum of Islamic Art presents the extensive collections of Antonis Benakis, who was born in Egypt and later moved to Greece. The museum is located relatively close to the Acropolis, and the Kerameikos neighborhood has other archaeological sites and a museum as well. Museum of Islamic Art. March 2022. Photo by OI   I visited the Museum of Islamic Art on Sunday. While transferring from Monastiraki metro station to the museum, one could walk through a vast and interesting antique market area. The museum building is an old neoclassical urban mansion, and the exhibition is spread across several floors. The historical layers of the area are illustrated by the preserved and exhibited part of Athens' old defense wall in the basement, built in preparation for the Macedonian invasion. Preserved defensive structures in the basement. Photo by OI The exhibition is aesthetically well-crafted. The collection appears to be somewhat fragmentary, as collector's collections often are....

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 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...