National Archaeological Museum Guide
The National Archaeological Museum of Greece really looks like the National Archaeological Museum of Greece. The building is very Greek in design, with beautiful columns and a style that really resembles the famous Parthenon, which sits at the top of the city like a graceful, ancient queen.
Museum Walkthrough
The museum is large but it’s very open, with lots of big spaces, and it’s pretty easy to navigate. The permanent collections are on two floors, and it’s well worth it to see the items on both levels.
Ground Floor
The ground floor is where you will find super ancient items from Greece’s earliest days, including Egyptian artifacts. Greece and Egypt traded with each other frequently throughout the Bronze Age, so there were Egyptian items found in ancient Greek archaeological sites. You can even see Stone Age artifacts here, which is pretty cool.
The ground floor is also where you can find artifacts from Mycenae, which was the Bronze Age Greek empire. The Mycenaean Greeks are the ones who went to war with Troy in Homer’s stories, and this ties into the most famous item you can find at this museum.
The mask of Agamemnon is here at the National Archaeological Museum. If you’ve ever heard anything about the Trojan War or ancient Greece, you’ve probably seen a picture or video of this mask. It’s one of the most well known ancient artifacts in the world.
Agamemnon as said to be the king of Mycenae during the time of the Trojan War, which is detailed by Homer in the Iliad and the Odyssey. The golden mask is an example of funerary mask and there's really not a lot of evidence to truly tie it to the ancient king, but the mask has been known by this name for a long time, so that's what it continues to be called.
First Floor
On the first floor of the museum, which is above the ground floor and which Americans might naturally think of as the second floor but in Europe that’s not how they name their floors so things actually get very confusing, you’re going to find the items from Hellenistic Greeks.
This is Iron Age Greece, the Greece of Homer and Socrates and Plato. The exhibits here include jewelry, vases, lots of beautiful glass and terracotta figures.
It’s really an incredible place, and at a ticket price of about $14 per person it’s not fully unreasonable. You can spend a couple of hours looking around here and it’s a really beautiful museum both inside and out. I sat outside for a while after being here, and it was a super chill vibe.
Visiting the Museum
The opening hours here vary by season and according to whether or not there is a religious holiday, and I’m being very serious about that. You need to double check your specific date because this whole museum will shut down for the sake of Jesus and you had better believe it, so check your specific date for visiting.
If you'd like some tips for putting together a perfect itinerary when you’re traveling, check out my video about that.
I hope you enjoyed getting a look at the museum with me and I hope you’ll have an incredible time in Athens if you’re planning a trip here yourself.
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