The Byzantine Museums of Athens

The byzantine museums host objects related to the Byzantine Era and the role of Athens in the Byzantine Empire. The visitors can see various exposures related to the byzantine art, especially icons and religious material as well as paintings, frescoes, pottery and sculptures belonging both to byzantine and post-byzantine years. Some of them are housed within Monasteries such as the Monastery of Kaisariani which is one of the most important monuments of Byzantine years, in Attica. It was built in the 11th century and apart from its architectural style, it is worth visiting thank to its frescoes. There is also Dafni Monastery which is located on the way that linked Athens to Eleusis in the past. It was built in the 1th century too and despite its having been damaged several times in the past due to conquers and earthquakes, it has preserved its dome mosaics and art works made by great artists from Constantinople.

A great collection of byzantine items like lamps, icons, crosses and frescoes is also hosted in Benaki Museum.

The Byzantine Museum of Athens

Housed in one of the prettiest building of Athens town centre that looks like a Renaissance villa, the Byzantine Museum of Athens was founded in 1945 and designed by the architect Stamatis Kleanthes. The building was expanded in 1993 thank to the plethora of its new exposures that compose one of the greatest collections in the world. The courtyard of the museum hosts a quatrefoil font taken from Saint Apostoles church in the Ancient Agora of Athens. There is also a mosaic found during excavations in Attica district.

The visitors can see sculptures created during the Byzantine and post-Bazantine Eras as well as early Christian sculptures. A basilica composed of parts from various churches in Greece is also exposed in the museum. There is a small statue with Orpheus playing his lyre, made of marble and dating back to the 4th century AD.

A middle Byzantine collection of sculptures from the Frankish occupation of Greece is one of the most interesting exhibits of the museum. The collection includes two unique icons depicted the Virgin Mary and a panel depicting the tree of life.

On the ground floor, the visitors can see a domed-inscribed-cross church with a marble iconostasis and parts of marble mosaics from the Acropolis placed on the floor.

The museum hosts 3,000 ions, most of them on its ground floor. There are some very old icons of great importance among them.

What is more, there is a collection of gold coins, jewellery and silverware found in Mytilini island, in 1951 and two rooms hosting religious relics brought to Greece by refugees after the catastrophe of Asia Minor.

Opening hours:

Monday: 13:30 – 20:00 (May – October)

Tuesday – Sunday: 8:00 – 20:00 (May – October), 8:30 – 15:00 (November – April)

Closed on: Mondays (November – April), January 1st, March 25th, Holly Friday (open only 12:00 – 17:00), Easter, May 1st, December 25th-26th

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