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
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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.
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
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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
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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/
Where to Stay in Athens
Other Athens pages
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Greece Travel Secrets gives its choice of the best hotels in Athens from budget and moderate options through to 5-star luxury choices.
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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.
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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.
Athens car rental options include almost all of the major international car hire firms such as Avis, Budget, Hertz, and Europcar.
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.
The best views in Athens include views from the Acropolis and of the Acropolis from the top of some of the city’s several hills and from hotels and restaurants.
Piraeus is the port of Athens from where many ferries to the Greek islands depart, and it also has an Archaeological Museum and the Hellenic Maritime Museum.
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.
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.
Athens International Airport is east of Athens city centre with its own Metro train station, buses to Athens and Piraeus, taxis and car rental offices.
This drive around Attica offers visitors high hills, beach resorts, small villages and classical sites like Marathon and the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion.
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.
The National Archaeological Museum is one of the best things to see in Athens, and the best museum in the world for seeing Greece's archaeological treasures.
This walk around the Kolonaki neighbourhood of Athens starts and ends in Syntagma Square and takes you to several museums, Kolonaki Square and Mount Lykabettos.
The Athens War Museum is a fascinating look at Greek history through the lens of warfare from ancient battles to the Greek War of Independence and World War II.
Around Monastiraki is the flea market, Athens cathedral, Kerameikos Cemetery, the Benaki Museum of Islamic Art and the Psirri and Gazi nightlife districts.
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.
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