Historical and Archeological Museums, Athens

The Benáki Museum is based on the rich private collections of Antonios Benáki, who lived in Cairo and collected Greek, Turkish and Chinese treasures. Of particular interest is the Greek gold jewelry, mainly from Thessalia.Favorite motifs are Aphrodite and Eros, as well as the Knot of Heracles.There is an interesting collection of jewelry from the Byzantine and post-Byzantine periods. Some pieces of jewellery and gold medallions appear to come from Venetian workshops. The silver cult-objects on display are mainly from Macedonia.Mention should also be made of exhibits from early Christian Egypt, especially the Coptic robes. There are a number of Byzantine and post-Byzantine icons, including a 14th C. representation of Abraham and a 15th C. picture of Demetrius, and one by El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopulos) depicting the Magi.Also exhibited is ceramic work from Asia Minor. Most impressive are Chinese vases and figures from the Tang dynasty.Craftwork, including costumes and carvings, from several Greek provinces are on display in the basement; there, too, is a copy of a reception room from the house of a nobleman in Kozáni in the 18th C. Brauron (modern Greek Vrávron or Vráona).

The Goulandris Museum of Cycladic and Ancient Greek Art in the Kolonáki quarter of the city was opened in 1986. It is housed in an attractive building donated by the north P. Goulandris Trust.The ship-owner Nikolas P. Goulandris became well-known as a patron of cultural life in Athens, and it is his own collections of Cycladic and ancient Greek art which form the backbone of the exhibitions here. Some of the works of art on display are more than 5,000 years old.

The Military Museum in Athens, opened in 1975, is housed in a modern building between the Byzantine Museum and the Hilton Hotel. The collection illustrates the story of the wars in which the Greeks have been involved, some of them of decisive importance for Greece itself (e.g. Navarino, 1827), others of major significance in world history (e.g. the Persian wars of the fifth century B.C.), and emphasizing the continuity of Greek history down the centuries.The visit begins on the main floor, in the long Hall A, on one side of which is a cast of the frieze of the Temple of Apollo at Bassai (original in British Museum).Here, too, are stone and bronze weapons of Neolithic and Mycenaean times, Corinthian helmets (fifth century B.C.) and material relating to the Battles of Marathon, Thermopylai and Salamis (490-480 B.C.).The other rooms continue in chronological order through the period of Alexander the Great, the Byzantine era, the periods of Frankish and Turkish rule, the War of Greek Independence and the fight for independence in Crete and Macedonia to World War II and Greek participation in the Korean war (1950-53). Some weapons and aircraft are displayed on the terrace.

The important private collection assembled by Paul and Alexandra Kanellópoulos and now belonging to the state is housed in a Neo-Classical mansion on the upper edge of the Pláka, near the Metamórfosis church.It is of interest for its displays of both ancient and Christian art.Basement: Icons, including the very beautiful wonder-working icon of the Panayía Myrtidiotissa (1747), a rare iconographic type.Ground floor: Icons, liturgical utensils, silver and gold jewellery, embroidery; Egyptian mummy portraits and a painted death mask, a head of the Emperor Galerius (fourth century A.D.) and Byzantine coins (pre-1200).First floor: Antiquities, including Greek pottery from the Geometric period onwards; pottery and metalwork from Cyprus; small marble Cycladic idols and stone implements and utensils of the Cycladic culture (third century B.C.); Egyptian items in wood and metal.Second floor: Pottery from Cyprus, Asia Minor, Cornith and Crete; Attic pottery (e.g. a vase with Priam, Hector and Andromache), a head of Alexander and Tanagra figurines.