Location: Embassy District
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6 Museums in Embassy District That You Shouldn't Miss
Once known for smog, traffic and tacky architecture, Athens is a city reformed thanks to fortunes brought by the 2004 Summer Olympics. Spotless parks and streets, an ultra-modern subway, new freeways, an accessible airport and all signs in perfect English make the city easily negotiable. Meriting more than a stopover en route to the islands, sophisticated Athens sites include many pillars of Western history, from the Acropolis to the Temple of Olympian Zeus, as well as treasures in the National Archaeological Museum.
Restaurants in Athens
1. Museum of Cycladic Art
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,189 reviews
A dynamic cultural institution in the centre of Athens, the Museum of Cycladic Art focuses on promoting the ancient cultures of the Aegean and Cyprus, with particular emphasis on Cycladic art of the third millennium BC. The Museum’s permanent collections include 3000 Cycladic, ancient Greek, and ancient Cypriot artefacts, witnesses to the cultures that flourished in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean from the fourth millennium BC to approximately the sixth century AD. The Museum of Cycladic Art’s temporary exhibitions focus on archaeology and modern and contemporary art with the aim to familiarize the public with important twentieth and twenty-first century artists and to explore the relations between ancient cultures and modern art. Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Thomas Struth, Louise Bourgeois, Sarah Lucas, Ugo Rondinone, Jannis Kounellis, Mario Merz, Ai Weiwei, and Cy Twombly are among the artists hosted.
Reviewed By Tiffanymd - Salida, United States
Special exhibit was amazing. Permanent collection also informative and inspiring. I especially liked the Cycladic floor.
2. Byzantine and Christian Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 968 reviews
Reviewed By Gordon_and_Sally_11 - Broken Hill, Australia
We visited this museum in July (still catching up on reviews) and thought it excellent. There is a wealth of artefacts to see - we took about 115 photos in just under two hours. Artefacts include icons, mosaics, pottery, glass, jewellery and sacrophagi. The museum is beautifully laid out, with the permanent exhibition arranged around five themes: (1) From the ancient world to Byzantium; (2) The Byzantine world; (3) Intellectual and artistic activity in the 15th century; (4) From Byzantium to the modern era; and (5) Byzantium and modern art. The museum is closed on Tuesdays from November to March. Photography without flash is permitted.
3. Benaki Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,501 reviews
The Benaki Museum is among the most extensive and innovative cultural organizations in Europa. Diverse cultures from all historical periods and geographical areas meet contemporary art across a network of venues all over Athens – and beyond. The Benaki Museum of Greek Culture presents the history and art of the Greek world from prehistory to the 20th century, through 6.000 objects arranged over four floors. Antonis Benakis (1873-1954) was a passionate art collector. He belonged to a cosmopolitan circle of connoisseurs and intellectuals in Alexandria, Egypt. Following his return to Athens and the death of his benefactor father Emmanuel, Antonis bequeathed to Greece his collections and parental home, which opened in April 1931 as the Benaki Museum. After a comprehensive refurbishment, the building reopened on 7 June 2000 as the Benaki Museum of Greek Culture while the remaining diverse collections have since been housed in new buildings (see Benaki Museum of Islamic Art).
Reviewed By Timotraveler - Helsinki, Finland
I have walked by this museum many times on my visits to Athens. It is close to the city center and Syntagma square and the Kolonaki area. I was totally amazed by the collection - it is well displayed and takes you on a historical tour of a collection of artifacts and art - best to start at the main floor and just follow the numbers for each rooms and this gives a great view or the development of the Athens and Greek region from ancient to more modern times. It was most fascinating and would definitely recommend this if you are there - it provides much more about the area then just the Parthenon. You can spend as much or as little time - but I would say a minimum of about 1 - 1.5 hours.
4. B. & M. Theocharakis Foundation
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 29 reviews
Reviewed By permia
Three floors of art plus a café on the first make for an absorbing hour or so. In a fine exhibition space in an ornate building, it exemplifies the contribution of the Philanthropic Foundation to Greek life. We began with the exhibition of the Human Form in 20th Century Greek Painting. The Exhibition by Giorgos Gounaropoulos and Umvertos Argyros's The Grandfather are amongst the striking portraits. Konstantinos Parthenis's Bathers is a dream-life depiction. Works from the Interwar and 1930s Generation has oeuvre by Yerassimos Steris and Theophrastos Triantafyllidis. The Night Responds to My Complaints by Konstantinos Parthenis is a fine almost-monochrome piece. Post-war period is well represented, covering abstraction, avant-garde and figurative styles. The School of Athens No 2 by Giorgos Vakirtzis is a marvellous update of Raphael's 16th century masterpiece. Georges Rorris's Man in Interior is a poignant study in isolation and contemplation.
5. War Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 480 reviews
In 1964, the Hellenic State decided to found the War Museum, wishing to honor all those who fought for our country and its freedom. The design of the museum was undertaken by a team of distinguished scientists, headed by Professor Thoukidides Valentis of the National Technical university of Athens (N.T.U.A). On July 18, 1975, the President of the Hellenic Republic H.E. Constantine Tsatsos and the Minister of National Defense Evangelos Averof-Tositsas inaugurated the Museum. Its various activities include the publication of books, the establishment and maintenance of monuments and memorials and the aid to services and agencies all over Greece. The Museum’s exhibition areas are distributed over four levels (floors) and present images of Greek history from antiquity to the present.
Reviewed By permia
We thought the adjacent Tree Of Peace Sculpture an apt countermeasure to all that’s recorded and documented in the museum. With a sweep from stone age to modern it is a fabulously comprehensive account of warfare and battle down the ages. A number of stone weapons are shown and while rudimentary they undoubtedly yielded a heavy blow. Triremes, ancient warships, that were instrumental in guarding and defending the Athenian empire are well worth seeing. The Greek struggle for independence from the Ottomans features voluminously. Horrors endures are powerfully conveyed in paintings such as Hunger in Athens by Nicholas Egon. Sculptural representations from this war include the heroic Markos Botsaris, amongst others. Liberation Celebrations from WW II occupying forces are depicted in evocative black and white photos. A Statue of Jerzy Iwanow-Szajnowicz shows the Greek-Polish athlete who fought in the Greek resistance and was executed by the Germans.
6. Angelos and Leto Katakouzenos Foundation
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 6 reviews
Reviewed By konstantinosorfeask
Not very familiar to public! This residence hosted Office and Home (appr.400m2) of one of Athens' best well known couples : Dr Psyciatrist Aggelos Katakouzinos and his wife Lito, celebrity and cultural muse of the 1930s. Many Nobelists, Writers, Artists, Authors and celebrities of the 1930s - 1980s were invited here. Photos, pictures and several items decorate this wonderful historical establishment, just opposite the Greek Parliament, on the 5th floor of this 1960 block of flats.
