Acropolis Museum

The monuments of the Acropolis have withstood the ravages of past centuries, both of ancient times and those of the Middle Ages. Until the 17th century, foreign travellers visiting the monuments depicted the classical buildings as being intact. This remained the case until the middle of the same century, when the Propylaia was blown up while being used as a gunpowder store. Thirty years later, the Ottoman occupiers dismantled the neighbouring Temple of Athena Nike to use its materials to strengthen the fortification of the Acropolis. The most fatal year, however, for the Acropolis, was 1687, when many of the building’s architectural members were blown into the air and fell in heaps around the Hill of the Acropolis, caused by a bomb from the Venetian forces. Foreign visitors to the Acropolis would search through the rubble and take fragments of the fallen sculptures as their souvenirs. It was in the 19th century that Lord Elgin removed intact architectural sculptures from the frieze, the metopes and the pediments of the building.

In 1833, the Turkish garrison withdrew from the Acropolis. Immediately after the founding of the Greek State, discussions about the construction of an Acropolis Museum on the Hill of the Acropolis began. In 1863, it was decided that the Museum be constructed on a site to the southeast of the Parthenon and foundations were laid on 30 December 1865.

A second museum was announced in 1888, the so-called Little Museum. Final changes occurred in 1946-1947 with the second Museum being demolished and the original being sizably extended.

Today, the new Acropolis Museum has a total area of 25,000 square meters, with exhibition space of over 14,000 square meters, ten times more than that of the old museum on the Hill of the Acropolis. The new Museum offers all the amenities expected in an international museum of the 21st century.

Opening hours:

1 April – 31 October:
Monday: 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (Last admission: 3:30 p.m.)
Tuesday to Sunday: 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (Last admission: 7:30 p.m.)
Friday: 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. (Last admission: 9:30 p.m.)

1 November – 31 March:
Tuesday to Thursday: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (Last admission: 4:30 p.m.)
Friday: 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. (Last admission: 9:30 p.m.)
Saturday and Sunday: 9:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (Last admission: 7:30 p.m.)

Closed: Mondays, 1 January, Easter Sunday, 1 May, 25 and 26 December

General admission fee: 5 euros.

For information on visitors who are entitled to enter the Museum at a reduced admission fee or free admission, please press here.

Free entry: 25 March, 18 May (International Museum Day), 28 October

E-TICKETING SERVICE

Nearest metro station: Acropoli (red line)

Find out about the cafe and restaurant here.

For more information visit www.theacropolismuseum.gr