Ancient Agora of Athens, Αρχαία Αγορά της Αθήνας, Athens, Greece Athens is full of surprises. It had those sites which you know are going to be great to visit – like the Parthenon and its museum as well as the National Archaeological Museum – but then you have unexpected delights, like the museum at the Ancient Agora. The museum is housed…
Kerameikos Archaeological Museum, Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Κεραμεικού, Athens, Greece If you have spent any time looking at the funerary stele at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, you will have noticed that many were found in Kerameikos – the ancient cemetery of the city. Over the years, my interest in stele has dipped in and out, but when I visited Greece…
Kerameikos, Κεραμεικός, Athens, Greece One of the most atmospheric spots in Athens, with the natural landscape and the smattering of stones, is the ancient site of Kerameikos. The fact that it is nestled in a largely residential area, with its big apartment blocks, actually helps to make it even more of an oasis for those of us in search of…
Hadrian and Athens: Conversing with an Ideal World, Exhibition at the National Museum of Athens, Greece A small exhibition in the Archaeological Museum in Athens highlighted portrait busts created during the rule of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. The exhibits are all from the museum, but by placing them all together, you get to see portraits from a specific era, which…
Benaki Museum, Μουσείο Μπενάκη, Athens, Greece In a beautiful white neo-classical house near the Greek Parliament and government offices, there lies a vast collection of beautiful and fascinating objects which show off the glory of Greek life through the ages. This is not a state museum, underfunded and showing the need for investment, but a fine example of what all…
…continued from Part One… The incredible collection of statues in the National Archaeological Museum shows the continuation of the Greek efforts to create three dimensional figures, first to depict deities, then to commemorate individuals. I know that a lot of people don’t like Archaic art – that is, the style that was in vogue before the Classical style, which is…
National Archaeological Museum, Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο, Athens, Greece When you’re in a city like Athens, you can’t help but feel spoilt for choice when it comes to museums. In fact, I found it almost overwhelming trying to decide which were the must-visits of our week in the city. The National Archaeological Museum was clearly top of the museum list –…
Museum of Cycladic Art, Μουσείο Κυκλαδικής Τέχνης, Athens, Greece There were so many museums in Athens that I was really looking forward to visiting, but funnily enough, the Museum of Cycladic Art was one that I was particularly keen on. We’d passed it in the taxi on our way into the city when we arrived from the airport, and it…
The Countless Aspects of Beauty Exhibition, “Οι αμέτρητες όψεις του Ωραίου“, National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece The vast and incredible collection of ancient artefacts in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens is almost too overwhelming. Literally every room is packed full of incredible objects and what a joy it is to explore. However, the museum clearly doesn’t have that much…
Byzantine and Christian Museum, Βυζαντινό και Χριστιανικό Μουσείο, Athens, Greece Having attempted to write an ill-fated PhD dissertation on early Christian art, I have a somewhat difficult relationship with the subject. One the one hand, I find the whole subject of creating a visual language for a new religion fascinating, and on the other hand I associate it with the…