Athens, Greece

The monuments in the Acropolis complex withstood the destruction of several centuries, both during ancient times and the Middle Ages. Up until the seventeenth century, travelers to the Acropolis depicted the famous structures as being still intact. This stay the case until the Propylaia was blown up during the middle of the seventeenth century while it was being used to store gunpowder.

After visitors cross the lobby on the ground floor of the Acropolis Museum towards the museum’s turnstyles, they will find the first collection of the museum. A glass-floored, wide ascending gallery houses objects found from the slopes of the famous ancient Acropolis.

The floor of the Gallery of the Slopes of the Acropolis is occasionally transparent, offering a view of the archaeological excavation. The gallery’s upward slope is an allusion to the ascent of the Acropolis. The gallery is home to the items found from the sanctuaries established on the slopes of the Acropolis, along with items that the people of Athens have used in their daily lives from many historical time periods.

On the right side of the Gallery of the Slopes of the Acropolis, visitors will find objects from the smaller sanctuaries, as well as settlements, that developed along the slopes of the Hill. On the gallery’s left side are objects on display found in some of the slopes of the Acropolis’ key sanctuaries. During ancient times, these slopes of the Acropolis represented the transition zone between this famous sanctuary and the city of Athens. It was in this area that popular and official cults, along with small and large sanctuaries existed alongside private homes.

The Archaic period is the time around the seventh century B.C. through the end of the Persian Wars. This time was characterized by the city-state’s development, as well as the transition from aristocracy to tyranny to eventually democracy. The Archaic time period was also noted for its great achievements in the intellectual life, art, and the economy.

Inside the Acropolis Museum’s Archaic Acropolis Gallery, visitors have a chance to see exhibits from every side for the first time thanks to the gallery’s three-dimensional exhibits. Thanks to the changing natural light that flows into the gallery, guests can discover and discern the delicate variations in the surface of the numerous sculptures, as well as select a vantage point from which they can view the exhibits. Within the Archaic Acropolis Gallery’s south side, visitors will find depictions of the horse riders, or the Hippeis, young women, known as the Korai, and several others that all create a striking image of the Acropolis during the Archaic time period.

The Acropolis Museum was first conceived in September of 1976 by Constantinos Karamanlis. Karamanlis also chose the site where the museum was eventually built decades later. The Acropolis Museum today includes a total of twenty-five thousand square meters of space, with more than fourteen thousand square meters of area for exhibitions. This space is ten times greater than the space the old museum had on the Hill of the Acropolis. All of the amenities one would expect to find in a 21st century international museum can be found at the new Acropolis Museum.

15 Dionysiou Areopagitou Street, Athens, Greece, Phone: 30-21-09-00-09-00

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