Greece - Korina Miller [78]
Heading back to the ground floor, turn right into Gallery 36 for the bronze collection. The larger-than-life-sized, 2nd-century-BC statue of the Lady of Kalymnon in Gallery 39, wearing a long draped tunic, was found in bad shape by a fisherman off the island of Kalymno in 1994.
Many of the smaller bronzes are masterpieces from the leading bronzesmithing workshops of ancient Greece. The 200 BC statue of Athena Varvakeion is the most famous copy – much reduced in size – of the statue of Athena Polias by Pheidias that once stood in the Parthenon.
There’s a basement gift shop and cafe with a pleasant garden courtyard.
The museum is a 10-minute walk from Viktoria metro station, or catch trolleybus 2, 4, 5, 9 or 11 from outside St Denis Cathedral on Panepistimiou and get off at the Polytechnio stop.
BENAKI MUSEUM
Greece’s finest private museum (Map; 210 367 1000; www.benaki.gr; Koumbari 1, cnr Leoforos Vasilissis Sofias, Kolonaki; adult/concession €6/3, free Thu; 9am-5pm Mon, Wed, Fri & Sat, 9am-midnight Thu, 9am-3pm Sun) contains the vast collection of Antonis Benakis, accumulated during 35 years of avid collecting in Europe and Asia. In 1931 he turned the family house into a museum and presented it to the Greek nation. The collection includes Bronze Age finds from Mycenae and Thessaly; works by El Greco; ecclesiastical furniture brought from Asia Minor; pottery, copper, silver and woodwork from Egypt, Asia Minor and Mesopotamia; and a stunning collection of Greek regional costumes.
The museum has expanded into several branches to house its vast and diverse collections and is a major player in the city’s arts scene. The Benaki Museum Pireos Annexe (Map; 210 345 3111; www.benaki.gr; Pireos 138, cnr Andronikou, Rouf; 10am-6pm Wed, Thu & Sun, 10am-10pm Fri & Sat) hosts regular visual arts, cultural and historical exhibitions as well as major international shows. The impressive former industrial building has a cafe and excellent gift store.
The Museum of Islamic Art (Map; 210 325 1311; www.benaki.gr; cnr Agion Asomaton & Dipylou, Keramikos; adult/concession €5/3, free Thu; 9am-3pm Tue & Thu-Sun, 9am-9pm Wed) showcases one of the world’s most significant collections of Islamic art, the bulk of which was assembled by Antonis Benakis in the 19th century. Housed in two restored neoclassical mansions near Keramikos, the museum exhibits more than 8000 items covering the 12th to 19th centuries, including weavings, carvings, prayer carpets, tiles and ceramics. On the 3rd floor is a 17th-century reception room with an inlaid marble floor from a Cairo mansion. A very pleasant rooftop cafe overlooks Keramikos and you can see part of the Themistoklean wall in the basement.
GOULANDRIS MUSEUM OF CYCLADIC & ANCIENT GREEK ART
This private museum (Map; 210 722 8321; www.cycladic.gr; cnr Leoforos Vasilissis Sofias & Neofytou Douka, Kolonaki; adult/concession €7/3.50; 10am-5pm Mon, Wed, Fri & Sat, 10am-8pm Thu, 11am-5pm Sun; ) houses a collection of Cycladic art second in importance only to that displayed at the National Archaeological Museum. The 1st-floor Cycladic collection, dating from 3000 BC to 2000 BC, includes the marble figurines with folded arms that inspired many 20th-century artists with their simplicity and purity of form. The rest of the museum features Greek art dating from 2000 BC to the 4th century AD, while the 4th-floor exhibition, Scenes from Daily Life in Antiquity, includes artefacts and films depicting life in ancient Greece.
The adjacent 19th-century mansion is used for temporary art exhibitions.
BYZANTINE & CHRISTIAN MUSEUM
This outstanding museum (Map; 210 721 1027; www.culture.gr; Leoforos Vasilissis Sofias 22; adult/concession