Search Hotels in Athens

The Acropolis Museum is an archaeological museum that is based upon the findings of the archeological site of the Acropolis of Athens. The museum was constructed to preserve the artifacts found on the rock and at its feet. The museum covers the age and group from the Greek Bronze Age to Roman and Byzantine Greece. The museum is too located at the archaeological site of Makrygianni and the ruins of a part of Roman and early Byzantine Athens. The museum was found in 2003, whereas, the Organization of the Museum was founded in 2008. The Museum open to the public in June 21, 2009 and therefore about 4,000 objects were exhibited in an area around about 14,000 square meters.

The first museum as based upon the theme of the Acropolis, was completed in year 1874 and extended to the about a moderate expansion in the 1950s. Though on the other side the regular and excavations on the Acropolis unearthed many new artifacts in the museum that appended the capacity of the museum to a great extent. There a need aroused for the construction of a new museum when Greece made the official requests for the return of the Parthenon Marbles from the United Kingdom. And there British official replied stating an excuse of proper place to keep Parthenon Marbles. The proposal for the museum was the fitting reply to British excuse for keeping those Parthenon Marbles with them.

The first two competitions to design the museums somehow failed to bring desired results. In 1989, a third competition held to design a new Acropolis Museum even invited international tenders as well. The competition was won by the Italian architects, Manfredi Nicoletti and Lucio Passarelli. And the work even based upon the third design too restricted due to the sensitive archaeological remains on the site, led to the cancellation of the competition in 1999. Finally the fourth competition adjusted so that the building was elevated above ground, on pillars. Competition was open only to architectural practices by invitation and it was won by New York–based architect, Bernard Tschumi, in collaboration with the Greek architect Michael Photiadis. With the completion of the work the historic artifacts moved to the location with the three tower cranes and it took about four months to complete the assignment.

The museum is situated by the southeastern slope of the Acropolis hill, on the ancient road that led up to the “sacred rock” in classical times. Located about 280 meters  away from the Parthenon, and a mere 400 meters walking distance from it, the museum is the  largest modern building standing to the close to the ancient site, yet many other structures there are located as well. The collections in the museum are shown on three levels whereas a fourth middle level houses keeps the auxiliary space like as the museum shop, the café and the offices.

The National Library of Greece is located close to the center of city of Athens. The library was designed by the Danish architect Theophil Freiherr von Hansen, as part of his popular Trilogy of neo-classical buildings even involving the Academy of Athens and the real building of the Athens University. The thought to create a National library sprouted from the philhellene Jacob Mayer, in an August 1824 article of his newspaper Greek Chronicles, published at Messolonghi, when the Mayer was intensely fighting for the independence of Greece.

His idea, however, finally materialized in year 1829 by the New Greek government of John Kapodistrias, that clustered the National Library with other intellectual institutions and properties like as schools, national museums, and printing houses. They all were kept at an Orphanage of Aegina, under the guidance of Andreas Moustoksidis who at the time was the president of the committee of the Orphanage, director of the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, and director of the National School.

By the end of 1830, the library then known as the National Library, had 1,018 volumes of printed books, collected from the Greeks and philhellenes. In 1834, the Library switched to Athens, the new capital, and was for first preserved at the temporarily house in the    public bath at the Roman Market and then later in the Church of St. Eleftherios, close to the Cathedral and other such important buildings and structures. The collection at the library increased rapidly. Along with the purchase of the books from the private libraries in guidance of Dimitris Postolakas of about 1,995 volumes, the Library further accepted huge donations of the books as from the Christoforos and Konstantinos Sakellarios who donated about 5,400 volumes and from Markos Renieris who donated 3,401 volumes.

It was in 1842, the Public Library mixed with the Athens University library that has about 15,000 volumes and was kept along with the currency collection at the new building and structure of Otto’s University. On 16 March 1888 a neoclassical marble building for the library was founded. The Library remained in the University building until 1903, and was moved to the new building that was designed by Theophil Hansen and supervised by Ernst Ziller. Presently library too is located at the Vallianos building, as well as at other buildings as well as at Agia Paraskevi and Nea Halkidona.

The present building has also outmatched by the space and technology demands that a National Library should available there. To match with the present day demands of the library although the Vallianos building will remain to work as some of its current functions, however, bulk of his work will be transferred to new building on the  Phaleron Bay “Delta”. Italian architect Renzo Piano has devised a new plan for the National Library and the National Opera of Greece, and the project further will be funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and presented to Greek state as the “Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center”.