During our first trip to Athens back in 2012, a must-see attraction that we visited was the Parthenon, atop the Acropolis Hills. The Parthenon is a former temple dedicated to Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war. Its beautiful sculptures are considered highlights of classical Greek art and symbol of Ancient Greece democracy and civilization.
But 280 meters away from the Parthenon is another impressive Greek structure that lies over the ruins of Roman and early Byzantine Athens…The Acropolis Museum. We were not able to visit this back then, so we made sure that we see it this time around.
The grand Acropolis museum, considered as the largest modern building erected so close to ancient Parthenon, houses every artifact found on the rock and on the surrounding slopes of the archaeological site of the Acropolis of Athens. The 1st-3rd floors have all the collection of statues, sculptures and artifacts dug from the ruins. The long and rectangular hall, which leads to the upper floors, has a sloping floor, resembling the ascension to the rock. Displayed on the walls are findings from the slopes of Acropolis. Also, since the museum is built over an extensive archaeological site, some parts of the floor uses glass, through which we saw the excavations below. From the 3rd floor of the museum, we had a view of the actual Parthenon, while the 4th floor has the museum shop, café and admin office.
While we were able to capture some of these on camera, there’s a section in the museum, where the big and more important statues are found, that is off-limit for picture and video taking. The lady guards on these restricted areas made sure that we keep what we saw only in our memories.
The excavation site in the Museum basement was a sight to behold. Located underneath the modern museum building, the site allowed visitors like us, to walk through an ancient Athenian neighborhood that survived from the Classical era to Byzantine times.
We left the Museum with our eyes and heart satisfied and filled with wonder and appreciation of Athens, then and now. Remember, when in Athens, don’t miss the Acropolis Museum😍
