EVENTS

From 26 June, one more space has been added to the Acropolis Museum. The “Excavation Museum” houses 1,150 objects from the thousands left behind by the people who lived in the Museum’s neighbourhood for more than 4,500 years. A witness to the continuous habitation of the city, the demanding, “surgical” archaeological excavation was put to best use by the Museum.

A difficult bet that was won was the difficulty of constructing a semi-subterranean exhibition space that is visitor-friendly despite the high temperatures and humidity. For this purpose, complex mechanical and hydraulic installations were utilized to ensure thermal stability.

The 1150 objects on display are only part of the objects discovered. They have been chosen to capture the imagination of visitors, to move them and to remind them that this is a “living neighbourhood” that has been inhabited for more than 4500 years.

The objects placed in the 35-metre long showcase, next to the workshops, the streets, the houses of the inhabitants, highlight the everyday life of the people who lived in this city thousands of years ago.

“This city will always pursue you\You’ll walk the same streets\ grow oldin the same neighborhoods…”. With these verses by Cavafy, the Director General of the Acropolis Museum, Professor Nikolaos Chr. Stambolidis opened his speech. And indeed, in this quarter, the Athenians of the Late Neolithic up to and including those of the 13th century AD “coexist”. Χ. The exhibits reveal their beliefs, religious concerns, philosophical concerns, professional activities, eating habits and living conditions of the inhabitants. As Mr. Stambolidis pointed out: “Works different from the architectural perfection of the monuments of the Sacred Rock and the surrender of the soul to the aesthetic supervision of the exhibits of the Acropolis Museum, the Museum of the excavation, “the Museum under the Museum” highlights and refers to things everyday, which are close and touch the human existence, which move“!

The official opening of the “Excavation Museum” was held by the President of the Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou.