Acropolis Museum

The finds

The museum holds every artifact found on the rock

The Acropolis Museum is an archaeological museum focused on the findings of the Acropolis of Athens. It was built to house every artifact found on the rock and on the surrounding slopes, from the Greek Bronze Age to Roman and Byzantine Greece. It opened to the public on 20 June 2009.

4,250objects exhibited, over an area of 14,000 square metres

The first one

The first museum stood on the rock, and the finds outgrew it

The first museum was on the Acropolis. It was completed in 1874 and moderately expanded in the 1950s. Successive excavations uncovered many new artifacts that exceeded its capacity. When the Greeks asked for the Elgin Marbles to be returned, officials were told Greece had no suitable place to show them.

Competitions

Four competitions and a stopped dig came before the design

The first architectural competition was held in 1976. A third, announced in 1989, was annulled in 1999, after digging for the foundations met sensitive archaeological remains. The fourth was won by the New York based architect Bernard Tschumi, working with the Greek architect Michael Photiadis.

On pillars

The museum stands on pillars above an excavated neighbourhood

Excavation revealed two layers of modest, private roadside houses and workshops, one from the early Byzantine era and another from the classical era. The building was therefore raised above ground on pillars that float on roller bearings. Parts of the floor are glass, so the excavations below can be seen.

Parthenon hall

The top floor is set askew to face the same way as the temple

The top level sits askew on the lower levels to share the orientation of the ancient temple on the Acropolis. The 48 columns in the Parthenon hall mark the outline of the temple. Glass walls on all four sides let natural light fall on the marbles, which face outwards, as they did on the Parthenon.

48columns in the Parthenon hall mark the temple's outline