BY M I C H A E L S A L A S

NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM, ATHENS, GREECE

The National Archaeological Museum in Athens houses some of the most important artifacts from a variety of archaeological locations around Greece from prehistory to late antiquity. It is considered one of the greatest museums in the world and contains the richest collection of artifacts from Greek antiquity worldwide.

T H E F I R S T N A T I O N A L A R C H A E O L O G I C A L M U S E U M I N G R E E C E W A S E S T A B L I S H E D B Y   P R I M E M I N I S T E R O F G R E E C E I O A N N I S K A P O D I S T R I A S I N A I G I N A     I N 1 8 2 9 . S U B S E Q U E N T L Y T H E A R C H A E O L O G I C A L C O L L E C T I O N W A S

R E L O C A T E D T O A N U M B E R O F E X H I B I T I O N P L A C E S U N T I L 1 8 5 8 , W H E N A N I N T E R N A T I O N A L A R C H I T E C T U R A L C O M P E T I T I O N W A S A N N O U N C E D F O R

T H E L O C A T I O N A N D T H E A R C H I T E C T U R A L D E S I G N O F T H E N E W M U S E U M

HISTORY

On May 2008 the Culture Minister Mihalis Liapis inaugurated the much anticipated collection of Egyptian antiquities and the collection of Eleni and Antonis Stathatos.[5] Today, there is a renewed discussion regarding the need to further expand the museum to adjacent areas. A new plan has been made for a subterranean expansion at the front of the museum.

EXPANSIONS AND RENOVATIONS

REFLECTIONWhat I love about this museum is that it is in one of my list of countries to go to. It has an old library that is library of archeology with rare ancient art. This library also holds science and philosophy books and publications. It also has some 20,000 volumes, including rare editions dating to the 17th century. I would love to see the Greek and Egyptian art that they have in the museum.