National Archaeological Museum of Athens

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Façade of the National Archaeological museum of Athens.

The so-called mask of Agamemnon, one of the best known pieces shown in the museum.

Jockey of Artemision.

The National Archaeological Museum of Athens in Athens houses some of the most important artifacts from a variety of archaeological locations around Greece.

[edit] History

Construction of the museum's building begun in 1866 and was completed 1889 using funds from the Greek government, the archaeological society and the society of mecenes. The initial plan by the architect Ludwig Lange was later modified by Panages Kalkos, Harmodios Vlachos and Ernst Ziller. The building was expanded in 1939, adding a second floor.

The most recent refurbishment of the museum took more than 1.5 years to complete, during which the museum remained completely closed. It reopened in July 2004, in time for the Athens Olympics and it included aesthetic and technical upgrade of the building, reorganisation of the museum's collection and repair of damage that the 1999 earthquake left to the building.