| Athens (prefecture: Attica) Museum of Cycladic Art Description: The Museum of Cycladic Art is devoted to the study and promotion of ancient Greek art. It was founded in 1986 in order to house the collection of Cycladic and Ancient Greek art belonging to Nicholas and Dolly Goulandris. Starting in the early Sixties, and with a permit by the Greek State, the couple collected Greek antiquities, with special interest in the prehistoric art from the Cycladic islands. Byzantine and Christian Museum Description: The Byzantine Museum was founded in 1914. From 1930 on it has been housed in the "Ilisia" mansion, which belonged to the Duchess of Placentia and was built in 1848 by the architect Stamatis Kleanthes. It was transformed into a museum by the architect Aristotle Zachos. In recent yars an addition and a large extension with basement and buildings in part above ground have been made. The architectural design is by Manos Perrakis. Municipal Gallery of Athens Description: The Municipal Gallery of Athens is housed in a neoclassical
building, on Koumoundourou Square, built on the plans of the architect
Panagis Kalkos in 1874. Dimitris Pierides Museum of Contemporary Art Description: The Museum was founded in 1980. At present, the Dimitris Pierides collection numbers 1,040 paintings, sculptures, engravings and ceramics and includes works which were mainly created after the Second World War by artists from Greece and Cyprus. Since 1983, the Museum has organized many cultural activities in Athens and other places in Greece and abroad. Frissiras Museum Description: The Frissiras Museum was founded in December 2000. It is situated in Plaka, in two fully renovated buildings according to modern museological standards. In the central building are housed parts of the permanent collection, which comprises more than 3000 paintings and sculptures of the last 50 years, dedicated to the human figure and produced by Greek and other European artists. In the second building, one-man shows as well as group retrospective contemporary artists are organized almost every two months. Hellenic Children's Museum Museum of Engravings and Graphic Arts Description: The course of the Ionian Bank, throughout its 150 years of life, has run parallel to the course of modern Greek engraving. To celebrate this anniversary, the Bank decided to create a collection of engravings and graphic arts, with the intention of founding a Museum to house this collection, which would cover the lack of such an institution in Greece. Museum of Popular Instruments - Research Centre for Ethnomusicology Description: The Museum of Popular Instruments - Research Centre for Ethnomusicology (MELMOKE) comprises the collection of about 1200 Greek popular musical instruments dating from the 18th century to the present day, the fruit of a half century of research and study by the musicologist Fivos Anoyanakis. The Museum is housed in the historical Lassanis Mansion, which was built in 1842 close to the Roman Agora. Museum of the Ancient Agora (Stoa of Attalos) The Agora museum is housed in the Stoa of Attalos, a reconstructed building of around 150 B.C. The characteristic feature of the mseum is that the exhibits are all closely connected with the Athenian Democracy, as the Agora was the focus of the city's public life. Museum of the City of Athens Description: Athens, the oldest and most famous city of Europe, presents part of her most recent History: the period commencing in 1832, when she was appointed capital of the newly-founded Modern Greek State by its first king, Otto. The tour of the Museum includes many other sectors of the History, Civilisation and Life of Athens (both past and contemporary). Several specific collections and typical sitting and living rooms of the Athenian 19th century aristocracy present a rich view of the life in Athens at the time. National Art Gallery and Alexandros Soutzos Museum Description: The National Art Gallery and Alexandros Soutzos Museum, the most important institution in Greece devoted to the subject of the history of Greek and Western European art, has been in operation, in its present form, since 1976. The actual founding of the institution dates back to 1900, when the relevant decree was published and the duties of curator were undertaken by George Iakovides (1900-1918). Already, however, in 1834, within the framework of the new social organization - on Western European lines - of the newly-born Greek state, the decree "On Technological Collections" provided for the founding, in Athens, of a Museum of paintings and engravings. Numismatic Museum Description: The Numismatic Museum of Athens, with a history going back to 1829, is one of the few of its kind in the world and the only such museum in the Balkans. It provides continuous educational support for Hellenism in terms of numismatics, history and art history. Postal & Philatelic Museum Description: The museum is located at 5 Stadiou Square & Fokianou Street, just next to the Kallimarmaron Panathinaikon Stadium, the site that hosted the first modern Olympics in 1896. The Acropolis Museum Description: It is one of the most important museums in the world. It temporarily houses masterpieces of the ancient Greek civilization, dedicated to the most important of the Athenian sanctuaries, the "temenos" of Athena Parthenos. Preparations for the erection of the New Acropolis Museum have already begun. The Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum Description: The Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum in Athens was founded in 1993 as a private non-profit foundation devoted to the art of jewelry. It opened to the public in 1994 and today houses in its permanent collections more than 4000 models of jewelry and micro-sculptures, from 50 collections, designed by its founder Academician Ilias Lalaounis, between 1940 and 2000.Since the year 2001 the Museum has opened its doors and collects jewelry and other decorative arts from different periods and various cultures. War Museum of Athens Description: Amidst the row of museums on Vassilissis Sophias Avenue stands the War Museum of Athens which explores the history of warfare. It covers a period of thousands of years, from pre-historic times until today and features all sorts of weapons - from stone axes to heavy artillery. Zoological Museum Description: The Zoological Museum of the University of Athens is the oldest and richest zoological museum of Greece. It is part of the National Natural History Museum that is the oldest natural history museum in the eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans. |
