Athens Byzantine and
Christian Museum
The Athens Byzantine and Christian Museum is housed in a beautiful
villa with an underground wing and lovely gardens too.
Athens Byzantine and Christian Museum
Photo: Joy of Museums
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Another of Athens' specialist collections, this is partly
housed in an 1840s villa with its own courtyard, filled with flowers and orange
trees. The villa was home to the Duchesse de Plaisance, a French widow who had
been married to one of Napoleon's generals and who fell in love with Greece and
created this Florentine villa in what was then the outskirts of Athens.
Athens Byzantine and Christian Museum
Photo: Marsyas
The Underground Wing
Although the collection was originally mainly of interest to
the connoisseur, it was brought to stunning new life by the building of a large
underground wing which opened in 2007. Although underground, this new set of
galleries are bright and spacious, with an open-plan look.
Our Pick of the Athens Guides
The first room in the new gallery outlines the story of the Byzantine Empire, and then armed with this overview visitors can make their way through the various display areas, starting with Christian Art and ending an engrossing hour or so later with the Fall of Constantinople in 1453.
Musical Eros by Defterevon Sifnios
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Byzantine Art
There is certainly no lack of information, and you can spend
as much time reading the display boards, which are in Greek and in English, as
looking at the objects themselves. These include numerous icons, naturally, but
also many other forms of Byzantine art such as sculptures, frescoes, jewellery,
ceramics, manuscripts and embroideries.
Photo: George E. Koronaios
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Visiting the Athens
Byzantine and Christian Museum
There are audio tours in several languages, and some
displays for blind people to touch and experience. There are also temporary exhibitions
to enjoy, and allow time to appreciate the gardens, too. What used to be a
museum only for the specialist now rightly appeals to everyone.
http://www.byzantinemuseum.gr/
Other Athens pages
Mount Lykabettos is the highest hill in Athens and provides some of the best views of the city, with a funicular cable car the easiest way to get to the top.
There's all kinds of entertainment in Athens whether you're interested in theatre, dance, classical music, jazz, Greek music, rock music, disco, opera or movies.
Ten Fun Things to Do in Athens include eating in the Central Market, watching the sun set over the Acropolis and seeing one of the world's oldest theatres.
This Athens dining guide doesn't list restaurants but gives practical advice on types of eating places, tipping, hotel breakfasts and picnics.
Syntagma Square or Constitution Square is the main square in Athens and has a metro station, the Greek Parliament building, hotels, cafes, and a post office.
Athens is a top vacation destination. The Greece Travel Secrets Athens guide has information on hotels, museums, Athens airport and all the best things to do.
Greece Travel Secrets gives its choice of the best hotels in Athens from budget and moderate options through to 5-star luxury choices.
The beach resorts of Athens are easily reached from the city and also close are Cape Sounion with the Temple of Poseidon, ancient Marathon and Rafina's port.
Athens, an Eater's Guide to the City, is published by Culinary Backstreets, who do walking food tours in Athens and the book recommends the best places to eat.
Easter in Athens is, like everywhere in Greece, the biggest religious celebration of the year and this page tells you what to expect over the Easter weekend.
Athens car rental options include almost all of the major international car hire firms such as Avis, Budget, Hertz, and Europcar.
In My Athens on Greece Travel Secrets travel writer Mike Gerrard describes what he loves about Athens including the Acropolis and eating!
If visiting Athens it helps to know when major events and public holidays take place, as some shops and attractions may be closed, but to be there at times like Easter can make for a magical trip.
Greece Travel Secrets lists the ten best museums in Athens, with the top two being the National Archaeological Museum and the Acropolis Museum.
Athens Food Tours are being introduced by new company The Greek Fork, and will include tours of the Central Market, and the best street food.
A History of Athens from the first people to live on the Acropolis through the Golden Age of Pericles and Alexander the Great to the military junta.
Around Monastiraki is the flea market, Athens cathedral, Kerameikos Cemetery, the Benaki Museum of Islamic Art and the Psirri and Gazi nightlife districts.
Two of the best cocktail bars in Athens, MoMix Kerameikos and The Clumsies, are making creative cocktails using that most Greek of Greek spirits, Metaxa.
The Greece Travel Secrets guide to the original Athens Olympic Stadium, built for the 1896 Olympic Games and open to the public for jogging and photography.
If you're wondering where to eat in Athens and Piraeus we have a few suggestions including some favorites around the Acropolis, Omonia Square, and Syntagma.
Athens walking tours and other experiences like cookery lessons, ceramics workshops, dining with a family, and street art are available from Alternative Athens
The Athens Acropolis has the city's most iconic building, the Parthenon, along with other historic buildings and is where the Elgin Marbles were taken from.
Athens' Benaki Museum is one of the city’s top museums with an outstanding collection, especially of Greek and Egyptian artefacts, in a beautiful mansion.
There are lots of flights from Athens to Santorini as well as a ferry service from Piraeus, with flights to Santorini leaving from Athens International Airport.
This beginner's guide to Greek architecture explains how to tell your Ionic from your Doric columns, and what to look for in temples and Byzantine churches.
Enjoy this page? Please pay it forward. Here's how...
Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?
- Click on the HTML link code below.
- Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment,
your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.
-
Athens is ranked as one of the top European cities for family science trips, according to a report by Ubuy, a global e-commerce platform. Ubuy’s new report reveals Europe’s top 20 cities where familie…
Read More
-
Transportation and travel in Greece will be disrupted on Wednesday, May 1, as public transport and ferry employees have announced their participation in strike mobilizations to mark May Day. According…
Read More
-
A new beer festival is coming to Athens and for three days will quench the thirst of beer lovers with well-known and rare labels from around the world as well as from Greek microbreweries. Lager? Pils…
Read More
-
Renowned for its spectacular “hanging” monasteries and reverent atmosphere, Meteora is the perfect place to spend Greek Easter.
Read More
-
Boasting spectacular landscapes and unique local traditions, the islands of Lesvos, Ikaria and Andros are ideal vacation destinations for Greek Easter.
Read More
-
Discover the secret to making the most delicious Easter koulourakia (cookies) from Smyrna, passed down through five generations.
Read More
-
The Greek Transport Ministry on Wednesday launched a pilot ‘Tap & Pay’ contactless payment system for passengers traveling on the express bus lines in Athens that connect to Athens International Airpo…
Read More
-
On the occasion of 200 years since Lord Byron’s death, the Acropolis Museum in Athens is honoring his memory with a symbolic exhibition related to Lord Elgin’s taking of the Parthenon sculptures.
Read More
-
Sunbeds, umbrellas, and all sorts of constructions have been banned on 198 beaches across Greece according to a joint ministerial decision signed this week by Economy & Finance Minister Kostis Hatzida…
Read More
-
Amidst the mountains and spectacular scenery, these four traditional guesthouses in the heart of Zagori, Epirus, offer the very best in Greek hospitality.
Read More