Athens Acropolis Museum: Visiting Time, Works, Description

Are you ready to discover the Acropolis Museum in Athens and want to know more about the works it holds, opening hours and how best to plan your visit?

The Acropolis Museum in Athens is one of the most celebrated archaeological and art museums in the world, with an area of 25,000 square meters and a collection spanning more than 1,500 years.

In this article you will find all the information you need to immerse yourself in the museum’s history, learn about its incredible collections, and plan your visit in detail.

From its modern architecture to the ancient sculptures that tell the story of Athens’ glory, let’s explore every aspect of this must-see stop together.

Attention visitor The Acropolis is a must-see destination, but it is also crowded in every season. To avoid long lines at the ticket office, purchase your ticket online and access it directly. Click below to reserve your admission!

History of the Acropolis Museum

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The Acropolis Museum in Athens preserves the sculptures, bas-reliefs, and artifacts found on and around the site, and replaces the older museum, erected in 1874, which was located next to the Parthenon. Excavations over the years have unearthed many new finds, and the old museum was now too small to accommodate the entire collection.

So in 1976 the Ministry of Culture decided to have a new museum built, constructed over a period of 33 years from its design by Swiss architect Bernard Tschumi and Greek architect Michalis Photiadis.

Constructing a new building in the area of the ‘acropolis, precisely at its base, on the southeastern side of the hill, entailed logistical difficulties from the outset, being in an area whose subsoil preserves numerous artifacts. Indeed, during excavations to carry out its foundations, remains from the Christian era were discovered, and the museum had to be adapted to preserve them and make them visible.

After the study of variants to the initial project, the actual work began in 2007 and was completed in 2009 with the opening of the museum.

The museum is impressive, with an area of about 25,000 square meters, more than half of which is occupied by the exhibition of artifacts; it is ten times the size of the old museum.

Architecture of the Acropolis Museum in Athens

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The museum is an example ofdeconstructivist architecture, of which Tschumi is an exponent, consisting of simple stereometric volumes of exposed concrete, steel, and glass articulated on three levels. Echoing classical architecture but in a contemporary key, the building rests on a hundred concrete columns without interfering with the archaeological site below.

In the design, the two architects, gave great value to the theme of light, which, thanks to the large glass walls, falls naturally on the exhibition halls, so that visitors can admire the artifacts, more than 4,000, as if they were observing them in the open air and allow them constant visual contact with the Acropolis site, 200 meters away from the Museum.

Glass was also used in the construction of the entrance ramp, which not only echoes the theme of the“ascent” to the Sacred Rock, but also allows visitors to observe the excavations below.

Works featured within the Museum

Second floor

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The second floor of the museum houses the oldest finds, dating back to the Archaic period before the Parthenon was built.

Many of these artifacts were found within the so-called“Persian fill,” a large pit in which the Athenians buried and burned the now irretrievable debris from the war against the Persians, who devastated the Acropolis in 480 BCE.

Among the noteworthy works I recommend you linger in front of the pediment known as “of the Bluebeards,” dating back to 570 B.C. The high relief was placed on the pediment of the temple known as“Hekatonpedon,” later replaced by the Parthenon.

The scene depicted within the tympanum, which has come down to us in a fragmentary manner, bears in the center sculptures of bulls and lionesses, while on the left is the clash between Hercules and the Triton, a half-man-half-serpent creature son of the sea king Poseidon. On the right, on the other hand, a three-headed demon, each with a long beard, is depicted, which at the time of the discovery still retained traces of blue color on its limestone surface. The three figures, are intertwined, through their snake tails, and represent three natural elements, water, fire and air. Observing them closely you will notice that one is holding a wave, the second a flame, and the third a bird.

Inside the hall another work will surely catch your attention; it is what remains of the pediment decoration of the temple of Athena Poliàs. The sculptural group, made of Paros marble, depicts a scene from the Gigantomachia. The battle of the Olympian gods against the Giants, a metaphor for the Greeks’ victories over their enemies.

In the center of the scene the goddess Athena attacks the giant Engelados (only a fragment of whose foot has been found); next to the giant is another wounded one who has fallen to the ground. The goddess, equipped with a helmet, wears a cloak (himation) and a chiton (a cloth tunic commonly employed in ancient Greece); her shield is adorned with carved serpents and scales.

Just as with the pediment of the Bluebeards, this pediment was also completely painted in garish colors; in fact, traces of red and green color have been preserved on the giant and Athena.

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Continue the visit and linger on the equestrian statue named Cavalier Rampin, this sculpture is the only one of its kind belonging to theArchaic period that has come down to the present day. It depicts a young man on horseback, probably the winner of an equestrian competition, since he wears on his head a celery crown, which was usually given to the winners of competitions. That ”happy” expression on his face is called by scholars an”archaic smile” is typical of the period and is the way Greek artists usually carved the mouths of their subjects.

The name of the sculpture, which is not the original one but a plaster cast, comes from the name of the French diplomat Francis Rampin, who in 1877 purchased the statue, which is currently on display in the Louvre, with the cast of the knight’s torso and horse.

Keep walking until you come to a statue of a young man with a calf on his shoulders; it is the sculpture of the ”Moschophorus.” The identity of this young man is revealed by the inscription at the base of the work, which mentions ”Rhombos, son of Palos dedicated.” The young Rhombos is probably on his way to the temple of Athena to offer her the calf as a sacrifice. The sculpture has the typical characteristics of the Archaic style; the body of the protagonist, with well-turned muscles, is simply made, the smooth, polished surface contrasting with the decorative attention given to the hair. The eyes are made of glass paste, and the expression has the characteristic archaic smile. Another feature of Greek art is the chiasm structure, the compositional formula that involved the crossed arrangement of limbs ( in this case using the arms of the youth and the legs of the calf) to harmonize the composition and make it appear less rigid.

Continuing the visit is advancing ideally in time, from the archaic style you will move toward the severe style. The sculpture of theEphebe of Critius is an excellent example of the transition between these two representative styles.

This marble statue, dating from 480 B.C., depicts a naked boy in the act of advancing ( this was a canonical way of representing young men ( called kouros), which recalled the action attributed to the male figure, while girls ( kouroi) were represented motionless and clothed.

His hairstyle, with his hair short and arranged around a ring, presumably metallic, resting at temple level, is uncommon before 480 B.C.E. and inclines toward his identification as a deity or hero, rather than an athlete. The representational style is much more realistic than that of Cavalier Rampin or Moschophorus, and there is no longer the archaic smile.

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The difference in the representation of men compared to women will seem immediately obvious to you and compare the Ephebus with the sculpture called ”Kore with Peplos” , she is depicted in a motionless position with her feet together and dressed in the Doric peplos, her hair is highly worked and gathered in braids The choice of clothing is not accidental, since at the time of the making of this sculpture (540 – 530 B.C.), women actually wore the chiton, a cloth robe that was closed by a side seam, so as to form a drapery. Here the artist’s intention was not to render the drapery realistically, but to highlight the volumes of the young woman’s buttocks and breasts.

Continuing on and approaching the area devoted to the temple of Erechtheion you will come across the statues of the caryatids, the maidens who served as the balustrade of the temple of Athena Nike.

The five statues, dating back to 430 B.C., are the original ones attributed to the sculptor Alcamenes (however, the sixth one, preserved in the British Museum, is missing); in fact, those currently located outside in the acropolis are faithful copies. Each of the statues, wears a peplos and has hair gathered in elaborate hairstyles, the draperies of the peplos recall the grooves of the columns while on their heads they carry baskets with the function of capitals, their posture is not static but hints at the movement of a step forward.

The winged statues that served as a balustrade to the small temple of Athena Nike, or Athena of Victory, which you find here in the museum, were executed around 410 B.C. The parapet, which isolated the temple from the cliff of the Acropolis, was 41 meters long and composed of numerous slabs, each depicting a version of winged Athena.

The slabs did not tell a story, but each described an independent scene. The winged goddess is portrayed accompanying bulls to sacrifice or showing weapons and trophies snatched from Persian enemies sitting around them. Of all these scenes, the most unique is the one in which the Goddess performs an everyday action: she laces up a sandal.

You will also notice fragments of the frieze of the small temple, which ran along all four sides. It consisted of 14 sections and was almost 26 meters long. Many parts have been lost, and four blocks are in the British Museum. The eastern frieze depicts the Olympian gods and the other three sides scenes of historical battles, such as the battle of Marathon in 490 BC.

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The last room on the second floor displays Roman-era copies of classical statues of philosophers and historical figures, executed between 500 B.C. and 400 A.D.

Among them, among the most interesting are those that make up the sculptural group “Procne meditating on the murder of her son.”

The work depicts a tragic myth from classical times. Procne was a woman married to Tereo, with whom she had a son, Itys. Tereo, however, fell in love with his sister-in-law Philomela, raped her and cut out her tongue so that she could not tell her sister about the betrayal. The young woman nevertheless managed to reveal the incident to Procne by sewing the images of it onto a cloth.

Procne, in a rage, in revenge for her husband killed her son, cut him to pieces and fed him to Tereus. The latter, discovering the crime, tried to kill both sisters, but the gods took pity on them and turned Procne into a swallow and Philomela into a nightingale, allowing them to escape.

The sculpture, attributed to Alcamene, depicts the moment when Procne makes the decision to end the life of her little son, who, unaware of his fate, clings to his mother in search of her affection.

The depiction of this myth is not accidental but refers to what was the current situation in Greece, engulfed in a fratricidal war, the famous Peloponnesian War, that would bring Athens and the whole country to ruin.

The last work I would point out to you is the portrait of Alexander the Great, attributed to the sculptor Lysippus. It is a Roman copy, a prototype of many portraits of the great leader. It is also one of the earliest sculptures of Hellenistic art, in which the subject was no longer idealized, but portrayed realistically, with a desire to render its psychological depth as well.

Second floor

The second floor of the museum houses the Museum Reading Room, with views of the Caryatids and the pediment of the Hekatompedon, offering visitors the opportunity to browse through publications devoted to the Acropolis, ancient Greece and the Museum, and to use their electronic media thanks to the availability of free WiFi.

Also on the second floor you will find a special space in which, with the help of films, original works, models and simulations of ancient Greek tools and technology,you can discover lesser-known aspects of the exhibits in the permanent collection, related to the ways and environment in which they were created. In addition, you can admire up close the model of the Acropolis made of LEGO bricks.

Third floor

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The third floor of the museum is devoted entirely to artifacts from the Parthenon, with which visitors can have direct contact, thanks to the large windows overlooking the Acropolis.

In the center, a large structure with the same dimensions as the Parthenon cell houses the bas-reliefs of the frieze, at their original positions, but with the advantage that they can be observed much more closely.

The frieze with a total length of 162 meters, celebrates the city of Athens during the age of Pericles. It was designed and partly executed by Phidias and his assistants around 432 BCE.

It consists of 115 slabs about a meter high, on which are carved 378 figures including men and gods and over 200 animals, mainly horses that occupy the bulk of it. It mainly depicts the procession of the Great Panathenae, the most important festival of ancient Athens.

The procession depicted starts from two different directions and rejoins at one of the slabs.

You will easily identifynumerous young men carrying ceremonial vessels and offerings, animals, wine, and fruit. You can see them dragging oxen or playing flute or harp. The procession involved carrying a peplos as a gift to the goddess Athena, embroidered in gold, as depicted in a scene on the east side of the frieze. Next to this scene you will also see the seated Olympian deities waiting for gifts: you will recognize Zeus seated on a throne, holding a scepter.

The celebrations took place every four years, and were a tribute to Athena, the city’s patroness.Panathenaic games were held during the festivities, with artistic and sporting competitions, including horse races, which explains the large number of horses and riders portrayed in the frieze.

Of those you will see, only fifty meters of the pediment are original; the others, which you recognize from the white coloring, are copies of the eighty meters preserved in the British Museum and other fragments displayed in various museums. Many unfortunately have been damaged.

Around the structure corresponding to the Parthenon cella, there is another one supported by columns, where the metopes, that is, the slabs, decorated in bas-relief that adorned the entablature of the temple are displayed.

There are 92 tiles in all and they depict battle scenes from Greek mythology, representing the struggle of good against evil.

At the time of its creation, Athens had just emerged victorious from its wars against the Persians, and the episodes recounted, allude to Athens’ victories. These include the Amazonomachy, the Centauromachy, the Gigantomachy, and the sack of Troy, a city guilty of sheltering Paris during the Trojan War.

Also preserved inside the hall are the sculptures that adorned the pediments of the temple; the scenes depicted, which have unfortunately arrived in a fragmentary manner, narrate episodes from Attic mythology: the birth of the Goddess Athena from the head of her father Zeus, in the presence of the Olympian gods, the struggle between Athena and Poseidon for the claim to Greece.

Museum opening hours

Museum hours vary depending on the time of year, specifically:

Winter period (1 Νovember – 31 Μarch)

• Monday – Thursday: 09:00 – 17:00 / last entry at hours: 16:30
• Friday: 09:00- 22:00 / last entry at hours: 21:30
• Saturday and Sunday: 09:00 – 20:00 / last entry at hours: 19:30

Summer period (1 Αpril – 31 October)

• Monday: 09:00 – 17:00 / last entry at h: 16:30
• Tuesday – Sunday: 09:00 – 20:00 / last entry at hours: 19:30
• Friday: 09:00 – 22:00 / last entry at hours: 21:30

Frequently asked questions

Conclusions

Here we are at the end of this in-depth look at the Acropolis Museum in Athens, one of the most iconic and fascinating places for lovers of ancient history and art.

We explored the history of the museum together, discovering how it came into being to preserve and enhance the treasures of the Acropolis, and I took you on a virtual tour through the rooms that house unique sculptures, friezes, and works that are symbols of Greek civilization.

You now have all the information you need to better plan your visit: from opening hours and details about the main works, to the architectural features that make this museum a true masterpiece.

If you still have questions or curiosity about what to see or how to organize your experience, please do not hesitate to contact me: it will be my pleasure to help you make your trip to the Acropolis Museum in Athens an unforgettable memory!