The Council of Museums of the Ministry of Culture unanimously gave a positive opinion on the museological preliminary study, which organizes the new exhibitions of two extremely important museums, the National Archaeological Museum -a unique ark of ancient Greek art- and the Epigraphic Museum (EM) -unique in the world in its kind- which are developed within the same building complex, which occupies the block of Patission, Ε. Herakliou, Bouboulinas, Stournari.

The Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni said: “The National Archaeological Museum, the largest in the country and one of the most emblematic in the world, contains the richest collection of works of ancient Greek culture, of ancient Greek art. In fact, it houses a panorama of Greek civilization, from the beginning of prehistory, around 6,000 BC, to late antiquity, around 400 AD. . The philosophy of the new exhibition focuses on the ancient Greek as a creator, reflecting his time, socio-political conditions, sciences and philosophical ideas. He is presented both as the protagonist of the depictions of art and as a figure who combines divine and human substance. Its content covers the historical course of 7,000 years, and geographically the entire Greek territory. At the same time, the National Archaeological Museum is a museum linked to the history of the modern Greek state. The Chipperfield-Tombazi design, selected by a Special International Committee, places the existing building of the Museum at the centre of the extension, which extends to Patision Street, thus enhancing the Museum’s prominence and its connection with the city, while contributing to the regeneration of the wider area of the historic centre of Athens. Our goal is for the National Archaeological Museum to evolve into a modern ark of knowledge and historical testimony of human presence. The basic message of the re-exhibition is the anthropocentric character of ancient Greek art and ancient Greek civilization in all its evolutionary stages. The Epigraphic Museum is also housed in the same building complex. A museum of its kind at an international level, as it has in its collection more than 14,000 inscriptions. The new exhibition of the Epigraphic Museum aims to familiarize the general public with the inscriptions, unique testimonies of our history and language. The central idea of the re-exhibition is “History and the Greek Language through the stones”. The inscriptions reveal aspects of the life of the ancient Greeks and the evolution of the language. Our aim is for the National Archaeological Museum and consequently the Epigraphic Museum to develop a new relationship of communication with the visitor while building a renewed identity with extroverted and internationally recognizable characteristics”.

Νational Archaeological Museum 

The NAM consists of the largest and most important collection of masterpieces of ancient Greek art in the world. It is housed in an imposing neoclassical building, founded in 1866 and inaugurated in 1889. Its exhibition covers 65 rooms on two floors, 9,000 square metres and houses 15,000 exhibits from Greece, Cyprus, Egypt and Italy. Its collections include works in marble, copper, gold and other precious materials.

The preliminary study presents the general principles of the museological approach of the Museum’s re-exhibition, and its basic conceptual structure. Based on the approved museological principles, the preliminary study specifies the organisation of the exhibits into axes and sections, and identifies the categories of interpretive media. The re-exhibition covers the existing museum building and the new spaces in the extension of the building. The Museum’s collections currently on display, archaeological material from the Museum’s storerooms, and loans from Ephorates of Antiquities and Museums are utilized for a more complete presentation of the narrative and representation of the Greek territory. The new building is being developed in the garden in front of the historic building.The main entrance is moved to the front, at the level of Patision Street, enhancing the Museum’s relationship with the city. The new building, which is developed on two underground levels, will house the following functional units: On the first level, public service areas, visitor assembly area, ticket office, cloakroom, information, sanitary facilities, restaurant and café with independent entrance, bookstore and shop, amphitheatre, space for educational activities, space for temporary exhibitions. Part of the first level and all of the second level are occupied by the permanent exhibition spaces. The visitor follows a continuous flow that runs through these two levels of the new building and finally leads to the neoclassical building where the exhibition narrative continues. On the roof of the new building a park with lush vegetation is developed, accessible to all.

The exhibition focuses on introducing visitors to the evolution of each artwork, so that they can understand its creator and admire it in its detail, through the Museum’s collections and the collections of people who preserved antiquities in very critical historical periods, which they bequeathed to the Museum, such as Eleni Stathatou or Michael Vlastos.

The central idea of the re-exhibition is that the ideas and values shaped by the ancient Greeks and expressed in their art continue to influence and inspire modern society. The universality of ancient Greek civilization is also evident from the fact that its basic values, such as democracy, systematic thinking, critical reflection, moderation, excellence, “well-being”, etc., continue to be values of Western civilization, while the harmony of ancient Greek art has become the norm of Western art and continues to inspire contemporary creative expression in many fields. This relationship between ancient and contemporary art can be seen in the juxtaposition of ancient and modern artworks that can be incorporated into the exhibition either in the form of display media or in the form of temporary loans from other museums as part of temporary exhibitions.

The general principles of the organization of the re-exhibition include, among others, the promotion and emphasis on the universality of ancient Greek culture, its anthropocentric approach to the needs of the various groups of the public, the promotion of the multiple meanings of the objects within the cultural context in which they were created, the adoption of attractive interpretative means for the promotion of the exhibits, the use of modern exhibition presentation media, the universal access for all categories of visitors, either by physical presence or through the use of the exhibits themselves. A variety of interpretative media, both conventional and non-conventional, are used to cater for different visitor profiles and needs: Information texts, visual materials, digital technologies and applications, staged environments, tactile exhibits.

Epigraphic Museum

The Epigraphic Museum has the largest collection of ancient Greek inscriptions in the world, with 14,078 inscriptions on stone, clay and bronze, from the 8th century BC to modern times. The Museum’s new exhibition aims to highlight the inscriptions with an emphasis on their accessibility and interpretation for different categories of audience. The presentation becomes more experiential and participatory, facilitating understanding. The exhibition space is almost doubled, reaching 1,500-1,600 sqm, while the outdoor exhibition occupies 900 sqm. Most of the inscriptions come from Ancient Athens, but there are also inscriptions from other regions of Greece and Asia Minor.

Inside the Museum 462 inscriptions will be exhibited, while in the courtyard about 300 monuments will be displayed. The aim of the EM is for visitors to understand the importance of writing for human history, to learn about the ancient Greek language through official and everyday texts and to learn about the political organization of Ancient Athens and other city-states. The exhibition is organized around four thematic axes and uses modern interpretive tools such as smart apps, 3D copies and tactile exhibits, facilitating access for all visitors.