Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1
Orizontes
is a very expensive restaurant with an equally expensive café, both of which enjoy
spectacular views. Over to the east a second, slightly lower peak is dominated by the
open-air
Lykavitós Theatre
, which is used mainly for concerts from May to October.
The Benáki Museum
Koumbári 1 at Vassilísis Sofías • Mon, Wed, Fri & Sat 9am-5pm, Thurs 9am-midnight, Sun 9am-3pm • €6, temporary exhibitions
€3-5 •
W
benaki.gr • Metro Evangelismós or Sýndagma, many buses including trolleys #3, #7 & #8
The often overlooked but fascinating
Benáki Museum
houses a private collection
donated to the state in the 1950s by
Antónis Benákis
, a wealthy cotton merchant. Its
exhibits range from Mycenaean jewellery, Greek costumes and folk artefacts to
memorabilia of Byron and the Greek War of Independence, as well as jewellery from
the Hélène Stathatos collection.
Among the more unusual items are collections of early Greek Gospels, liturgical
vestments and church ornaments rescued by Greek refugees from Asia Minor in 1922.
There are also some dazzling embroideries and body ornaments and unique historical
material on the Cretan statesman Eleftherios Venizelos, Asia Minor and the Cretan
Revolution. An additional attraction, especially if you've been dodging traffic all day, is the
rooftop café
, with views over the nearby National Gardens. The museum
shop
stocks a
fine selection of art books and CDs, plus some of the best posters and postcards in the city.
The Museum of Cycladic Art
Neofýtou Dhouká 4 • Mon, Wed, Fri & Sat 10am-5pm, Thurs 10am-8pm, Sun 11am-5pm • €7 •
W
cycladic.gr • Metro Evangelismós,
many buses including trolleys #3, #7 & #8
The small, private
Museum
of Cycladic Art
is a beautifully presented collection that
includes objects from the Cycladic civilization (third millennium BC, from the islands
of the Cyclades group), pre-Minoan Bronze Age (second millennium BC) and the
period from the fall of Mycenae to around 700 BC, plus a selection of Archaic,
Classical and Hellenistic pottery.
he
Cycladic
objects are on the first floor - above all, distinctive marble bowls and
folded-arm figurines (mostly female) with sloping wedge heads whose style influenced
twentieth-century artists like Moore, Picasso and Brancusi. The exact purpose of the
effigies is unknown but, given their frequent discovery in grave-barrows, it's possible
that they were spirit-world guides for the deceased or representations of the Earth
Goddess. Their clean, white simplicity is in fact misleading, for they would originally
have been painted. Look closely, and you can see that many still bear traces.
Of the ancient Greek art on the upper floors, the highlight is the superb black-figure
pottery, especially a collection of painted
Classical-era
bowls, often showing two unrelated
scenes on opposite sides - for example one of the star exhibits depicts revellers on one
face and three men in cloaks conversing on the other. On the ground floor and basement
there's a tiny children's area and a good
shop
, as well as a pleasant
café
(with vegetarian
choices) in an internal courtyard. A covered walkway connects to the nineteenth-century
Stathatos House
, magnificently restored as an extension for temporary exhibitions.
The Byzantine and Christian Museum
Vassilísis Sofías 22 • May-Oct Tues-Sun 8am-8pm; Nov-April Tues-Sun 8.30am-3pm • €4 •
W
byzantinemuseum.gr • Metro
Evangelismós, many buses including trolleys #3, #7 & #8
Excellently displayed in a beautiful building, the
Byzantine and Christian Museum
is far
more wide-ranging than you might expect. Exhibits start with art from the very earliest
days of Christianity, whose fish and dove motifs can't disguise their extremely close
parallels with Classical Greek objects. There are displays on everyday Byzantine life;
reconstructions of parts of early churches (mosaic floors and chunks of masonry, some
