Benaki Museum [Museum Profile]

 

Where: Athens (Koumpari St 1 & Vasilissis Sofias)

In a few words:
Benaki Museum’s main building houses works of art from prehistoric to modern times focusing on Greek culture over the span of the country’s history, as well as an extensive collection of Chinese, Coptic and pre-Columbian art; beyond the above, the foundation hosts rotating periodic exhibitions and also oversees a series of satellite theme museums.
 

 

Why:
The Benaki Museum, established and endowed in 1930 by magnate art collector Antonis Benakis, is housed in the family’s mansion in downtown Athens, Greece. The museum’s main building houses works of art from prehistoric to modern times focusing on Greek culture over the span of the country’s history, as well as an extensive collection of Chinese, Coptic and pre-Columbian art. Although the museum initially housed a collection that included Islamic art, Chinese porcelain and exhibits on toys, its 2000 re-opening led to the creation of satellite theme museums that focused on the specific collections, allowing the main museum to focus mostly on Greek culture over the span of the country’s history, as well as rotating periodic exhibitions.

 

 

What you will see:
Beyond the rotating periodic exhibitions that a visitor can experience, Benaki Museum’s permanent collection is comprised of more than 40,000 diverse items, which narrate the history of the Greek world through a spectacular historical panorama: from antiquity and the age of Roman domination to the medieval Eastern Roman Empire period; from Frankish and Venetian colonisation and Ottoman occupation to the outbreak of the struggle for independence in 1821; and from the formation of the modern state of Greece in 1830 down to 1922, the year in which the catastrophic Asia Minor Campaign concluded.

 

Opening hours:
Wednesday and Friday: 9:00 – 17:00
Thursday and Saturday: 9:00 – 00:00
Sunday: 9:00 – 15:00
The museum is closed on Monday, Tuesday and the following public holidays:
March 25th, May 1st, August 15th, October 28th, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, New Year’s Day, Epiphany, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, Clean Monday, Holy Spirit Day.

Ticket prices (2017):
Full admission: €9
Temporary exhibitions: €7
Combined tickets: If you combine tickets with a Benaki Museum satellite gallery/museum visit, you are entitled to a 20% discount to said visit.

Reduced admission:
Reduced admission on full admission: € 7
Reduced admission temporary exhibitions: € 5
Journalists : € 1

Free admission at the permanent exhibition:
Every Thursday (excluding organised tours and guided group visits) and on International Museum Day (May 18th).

Official website:
benaki.gr