You say Athens and immediately the thought runs to the Acropolis. And certainly there is not in the city, in all of Greece, a place that collects in itself so many suggestions and a wealth of history so rich. But there is not just Acropolis: the Greek capital offers much more to see. I’ve been there and I noticed that there are many interesting buildings that collect what has come to us from the past, a bunch of wanders with mystery and beauty.
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Here comes then the guide to the best museums in Athens.
The National Archeological Museum
The first obligatory stop in our guide to the best museums in Athens takes us to the great National Archaeological Museum, one of the largest collections of antiquities in the world. The museum is housed in a majestic neoclassical building from the late 1800s and the exhibits cover a very wide temple arch, from prehistoric times to Hellenism. Precisely the part dedicated to prehistory is the one that is first in front of the visitor and certainly deserves to be explored with care.
The Acropolis Museum
The Acropolis Museum is the brightest architectural jewel in the city of Athens. Its modern building with large windows allows natural light to illuminate the works but not only. Because you can also see the remains of buildings and houses of antiquity. In fact, a glass floor makes it possible to see what has emerged from the excavations that have focused on findings dated between the fifth and seventh centuries BC.
The Benaki Museum
The Benaki Museum is located in a neoclassical building of 1895 and takes its name from the family that bought it in 1910. On the ground floor the first two rooms collect the prehistoric collection of the museum formed by instruments, figures and vases dating back to the Neolithic period.
The Cycladic Art Museum
Inaugurated in 1986, the Cycladic Art Museum houses the personal collection of Nikolaos and Dolly Goulandris who during their lifetime collected a treasure starting from what is considered the prehistoric art of the Cyclades. The museum is located in two buildings connected by a glass corridor. The main building houses the permanent collections of the museum while the Stathatos Mansion, a neoclassical building houses temporary exhibitions.
The Byzantine and Christian Museum
collects collections of pieces ranging from late antiquity to Byzantine and post-Byzantine times. This rich collection makes the museum one of the most important in the city of Athens but also in Greece and its history dates back to 1914 even if its origin is linked to the previous Christian Archaeological Society. The museum is housed in a nineteenth-century villa but the exhibition has recently been redesigned and renovated.
As you may have noticed there are so many museums in Athens that you really need to visit and this could be tricky if you don’t have much time to do it. This is the reason why you should hire a car and move faster and easier around the city optimizing both your visiting time and your budget!
How to rent a car in Athens?
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