A truly unique opportunity to delve even deeper into the depths of Hellenic history. Here everyone gets a chance to be one-on-one with the authentic artifacts of Athens.
Anyone who has visited the Acropolis hill, wandered among the ruins of the majestic Parthenon and stumbled upon the silent caryatids of the Erechtheion, should visit the Athens Acropolis Museum. This building is located at the foot of the hill and amazes everyone with a striking contrast between the ultra-modern design of the building itself and the content of museum compositions. Ancient Greek artifacts found on the Acropolis look even more mysterious surrounded by glass, mirrors and cold marble of a modern museum.
Within the walls of the museum are relics of the ancient Parthenon, the Temple of Artemis, the Erechtheion and other ancient Greek monuments, adorning the Acropolis in Athens. Also amazing is the exposition depicting the Acropolis as Greeks saw it thousands of years ago. The glass floor allows you to watch the excavations taking place right under the building. Indeed, no matter where the authorities decided to build a new museum of the Acropolis in Athens, each time when digging the excavation trench the builders discovered buried under meters of earth, which immediately pounced on archaeologists - so fertile for relics proved to be the Athenian soil.
In the Acropolis Museum the visitor of Athens will see the original statues of caryatids supporting the arch of the Erechtheion. Here are also stored sculptures and friezes, removed from the temple of Athena, and some of the objects of worship, which were returned by the Hellenes from the British Museum. After all, Greece had for many decades longed for the return of the marble sculptures taken out by Lord Elgin at the behest of the Turkish pasha. But the British refused, on the grounds that the old Athenian museum could not house a complete collection of ancient antiquities and give them proper protection.
The Greeks, unable for several centuries to come to terms with the loss caused by Lord Elgin, could not allow the relics of ancient Hellas to continue to be kept within the walls of the British Museum. It was for this reason that the project for a new Acropolis Museum was launched. Three architectural design competitions held in 1976, 1979 and 1989 failed: the land for the construction was always unsuitable. The fourth competition was successful: the winner was the Swiss architect Bernard Tschumi, whose project was further improved with the help of Greek and foreign experts.
Finally, at the end of 2003, the construction, which lasted more than five years, was launched. And in June 2009 the new Acropolis Museum opened its doors to all lovers of Greek history. According to the architect's idea the walls of the museum were made transparent so that each visitor could enjoy a stunning view of the slopes of the hill and the Parthenon. And after viewing this treasury of ancient Hellas, all visitors contemplate the Acropolis with completely different eyes.
