Acropolis Museum, Athens

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In my opinion, the museum itself, not considering what is exposed inside, would be worth a visit. Here you get the chance to see the original marbles and sculptures from Acropolis, and the natural light of the museum, lets you enjoy them even more.There are more than 4000 ahndicrafts coming from the arcaic and classical period and looking through the glass floor of the museum you can also see the streets and the buildings of the ancient neighborhoods of Athens.
You can arrive here using the metro and coming out at Akropolis station, the ticket is 5€ and the opening time is:

Tuesday to Sunday: 8.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m.
Last admission: 7.30 p.m.
Galleries cleared at 7.45 p.m.
The Museum is open every Friday until 10 p.m.
Monday: Closed.
Closed: 1 January, 25 March, Easter Sunday, 1 May, 25 December and 26 December.

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Wonderful! Amazing! Not to be missed! Everytime I visit this museum, I see something new. The exhibitions on the Acropolis are constantly being renovated and new things are being added. It definately warrents return visits! Don't think if you have gone once, you have seen and absorbed everything. You may be surprised the next time you go, that you see something you hadn't noticed before, or you will definately see it with a new perspective.

All Greek citizens, who are in the know that is, are hoping that one day all the pieces that were 'stolen' and taken to other museum, namely the erroneously called 'Elgin Marbles,' will be rightly returned to be seen in the original home they were meant to dwell in for eternity. Until that day arrives, no visit to the Acropolis or it's museum will be complete!

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Located on the Sacred Rock, south-east corner of the Parthenon, the ACROPOLIS MUSEUM houses some of the most important sculptures of Ancient Greece art. Actually it is one of the most important museums in the world. Exhibits include sacred sculptures from the Temple of Athena Polias, the Temple of Athena Nike, part of the famous Parthenon Frieze depicting Poseidon, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite and Eros, as well as the original Caryatids.
The museum was built between 1865 and 1874. Presently a new Museum is just about finished, so the collection will soon be moved to new facilities.
Flash photography is prohibited but there was plenty of natural light and my pictures all turned out wonderful.
A joint ticket for Acropolis and Acropolis Museum costs 12 Euros. Keep your ticket as it is also good for the Temple of Olympian Zeus.

The Acropolis Museum is an archaeological museum on the archeological site of Acropolis. It is considered one of the major archaeological museums in Athens and ranks among the most important museums of the world. Due to its limited size, the Greek Government decided in the late 1980s to build a new museum.

Unfortunately I haven't been there, dream to come back one day...

You may watch my high resolution photo of Acropolis on the Google Earth according to the following coordinates 37º 58' 16.77" N 23º 43' 38.10" E or on my Google Earth Panoramio Acropolis Museum .

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The New Acropolis Museum is a magnificent monument showcasing the old within the modern walls of what can only be described as 'AMAZING.' The first time I walked up toward the entrance, my eyes were naturally focused above as I walked towards the towering portico and tried to gather in all the new dimensions. I was just in total amazement and thrilled as I moved closer to the huge structure made of marble, glass and steel. Suddenly, I felt the texture of the ground below change from the smooth marble walkway that had led me so far, become something smoother and slightly slippery. I looked down and to my disbelief, I was standing on a thick glass panel that gave light below...far, far below, to the exposed ancient walls and ruins of the city that had once housed the Ancient Athenians during the same time as the Acropolis was at its height of importance. What an incredible feeling!

By All Means...Go at NIGHT, to see the dramatic effects of the lighting under the museum and through the glass walkways.

The entire New Acropolis Museum will not be open until early March???2009. However, when I visited late on a Thursday evening, as it is open until 10pm, and there were very few visitors, I was able to walk up the stairs and look through the fenced off areas where the new exhibits are being prepared. This was as interesting as the exhibits will be when finished. Now, we have a historical event in the process of being made...

I love this new museum. Many feel that the modern structure is too much of a contrast with the old buildings in the surrounding neighborhoods. I totally disagree. It is a magnificent tribute to the modern ideas and architectural skills of today's Greek society. It is brilliant and will remain a brilliant showcase for many, many years to come.

Go see this historical event in the making!

If you have time, go to the new Athens Acropolis Museum at Night! You will be able to see the ruins that were uncovered during the excavation of the new museum building site, from the impressive lighting that has been strategically placed under glass panels that you walk on and look far down to the old building foundations !

The museum’s much-anticipated opening puts an end to a decades-long series of delays, obstacles and critics.

“Every great work is in a way a source of provocation and scandal,” said Culture Minister Antonis Samaras at the June 17 presentation. “But it is ultimately these great works - and not the objections they provoked - that leave an indelible mark on their era. The New Acropolis Museum is a symbol of a country which respects its past and honours it with works comparable to those of our ancestors.”

The first thing visitors see, as they walk up the ramp to the main exhibits, are the 5 Caryatids standing vigil. The best preserved of the six Caryatid statues was taken by Lord Elgin in the 18th century and is now held at the British Museum, while the remaining five originals have been on display at the new Acropolis Museum. A vacant space, among the five remaining, marks the void of the stolen statue...in anticipation of her return.

Tickets for the museum’s first three days of operation - purchased exclusively online through the museum’s site (www.theacropolismusuem.gr) - were sold out on June 15 within a few hours of becoming available.

Museum officials estimate that the 20,000m2 glass-and-concrete museum can accommodate simultaneously between 1,200 and 1,500 people. Its capacity is 10,000 visitors in the course of a 12-hour day (8am-8pm).

For a museum that aims to welcome and befriend its visitors, avoiding heavy queueing is a priority. In order for the gallery halls not to become congested, specially appointed personnel will work towards the even distribution of museumgoers.

As part of its visitor-friendly policy, the museum also offers a spacious reception area, a ground-floor cafe, a second-floor restaurant-cafe with panoramic views of the Acropolis, a virtual-reality theatre and a temporary exhibition gallery. Recommended time for a full visit is three hours.

Unlike the steep entrance prices of international museums, the New Acropolis Museum ticket is at a budget-friendly 1 euro - the price of a public bus ticket - through to the end of 2009 and 5 euros as of 2010.

As you enter the new Acropolis Museum, you can sit on the colorful plastic seats and watch a full video of the planning and building of the new museum. Most interestingly, you will see the actual painstaking moving of the marble statues from the old museum to the new! What an amazing even that was! I remember the tall cranes above the Acropolis and watching the huge wooden boxes being relayed from one high crane to the next and finally down to the new museum!

This museum from the XIXth century stands in south-eastern corner of the Acropolis and hosts exhibits from the Acropolis.There are nine galleries in all that display items according to their chronological time. One of the most fascinating one is called "The Moschophoros", the statue of the worshipper carryng a calf for sacrifice to Gods.