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Victoria Kyriakopoulos gets a sneak preview of Athens’ dramatic New Acropolis Museum, which showcases ancient treasures in a stunning new building
PHOTOGRAPHY NIKOS KOKKAS
Strolling through downtown Athens, history is all around you. Past and present collide on almost every corner as urban life continues among the remnants of the glory of ancient Greece. Much was made of the city’s transformation during the 2004 Olympic Games, but the biggest change in the landscape is the way modern Athens has reconciled with its ancient past.
The revival of the historic centre and creation of a delightful car-free, archaeological precinct not only breathed new life into its famous monuments but also revived the spirit of the city. Young Athenians fill the cafés overlooking the Ancient Agora, under the shadow of the magnificent Acropolis. Families stroll the pedestrian promenade along the foothills of the Acropolis, buskers and street vendors add to the festive atmosphere, while theatre patrons sit on the worn marble seats of the Odeon of Herodes Atticus to watch a show in the moonlight just as their ancient fore-bears did.
Nowhere is this reconciliation of past and present more evident than at the city’s newest landmark, the New Acropolis Museum. Thirty years in the planning, plagued with characteristic Greek drama, delays and controversy, the €130 million (US$175 million) museum is finally due to open on 20 June.
Hundreds of onlookers held their breath as the meticulously packed, priceless marble statues were airlifted by 60m cranes from the top of the Acropolis, over the fifth-century Theatre of Dionysos to the safety of their new state-of-theart home. The three-level modernist building, designed by New York-based architect Bernard Tschumi, is ten times the size of the old on-site museum and will allow more than 4,000 artefacts from the Acropolis to be displayed.
Uniting layers of history with 21st-century innovation, the glass, marble and concrete building is an engineering feat, floating above a pre-Christian city uncovered during the seven-year excavation of the site. The archaeology is exposed at the museum entrance and through glass floors throughout the first level of the museum, while visitors will be able to walk through some sections.
Professor Dimitris Pantermalis, who has been overseeing the museum construction since 2000, says the museum gives you a unique experience of walking above and through history. As we make our way up a glass ramp evoking the ascent to the Acropolis, workers and archaeologists are putting the final touches on the exhibits.
Weaving around the virtual forest of sculptures and columns in the Archaic gallery, Pantermalis pauses to admire a life-size 500 BC kore (girl). “Look at the way the fabric drapes,” he marvels, circling the figure’s marble gown. Further along, he stops at another statue, bathed in the natural golden light of the afternoon. “Look at the expression in the eyes, look at the colour in her braids,” he says. “They are truly masterpieces – I never tire of them. Every time I see them I find something new to admire.”
The glass walls recreate the outdoor conditions in which the monuments were originally seen, while massive columns denote the temples from which they came. With no glass showcases, the museum allows visitors to appreciate the beauty of the exhibits up close. “It’s very immediate. You can walk around them and see them from all angles,” Pantermalis says.
The highlight of the museum is the top-floor Parthenon gallery, a glass atrium built to the same size and orientation as the Parthenon temple on the hill. This is the new home of the 160m frieze that once ran around the top of the Parthenon, as well as the ornamental pediments and metope blocks.
For the first time in 200 years, the frieze depicting the Panathenaic procession can be seen in its entirety, though only half of the marble sculpture relief is the genuine article. The other half of the surviving pieces are in London’s British Museum, so plaster casts of the missing pieces have filled the gaps, making a compelling argument for the originals’ return. As well as protecting and showcasing its cultural heritage, the museum represents Greece’s boldest move in its campaign to return the marbles prised off the temple by Lord Elgin during Turkish rule.
“This is not a museum that was built and filled with items; it was built specifically for these treasures to be displayed in a particular place,” says Pantermalis.
One of the most impressive aspects of the museum is that it allows you to see the artefacts relatively in situ. The restaurant and café open up to a spectacular terrace looking onto the Acropolis and the hills surrounding the sprawling modern city. The view is nothing short of breathtaking. “It’s not just important for Athens or for Greece – this museum houses the symbols of Western civilization, the symbols of Greece when democracy was born,” Pantermalis says.
The museum is not the only boost for Athens’ cultural credentials. In February, the National Archaeological Museum opened six new exhibit halls in the final stage of the museum’s revamp which include previously unseen collections and later this month the Byzantine and Christian Museum will inaugurate the last of its impressive underground galleries, which will house a collection of unseen works for the first time showcasing Greece’s early modern period.
MY ATHENS
Victoria Kyriakopoulos is a freelance writer and author of Lonely Planet’s Athens Encounter guide. Here are three of her recommendations for the Greek capital:
PERISCOPE
There are plenty of hotels around the historic centre but for a taste of modern Athens stay at the stylish Periscope hotel, in the chic Kolonaki neighbourhood.
Haritos 22, Kolonaki, +30 210 729 7200, www.periscope.gr
KUZINA
With tables on the bustling sidewalk next to the Ancient Agora, and a stellar view of the Temple of Hepheastus and Acropolis from the rooftop terrace, Kuzina is a great choice for contemporary Greek cuisine. Adrianou 9, Thisio, +30 210 324 0133, www.kuzina.gr
DIOSKOURI
This classic café with shady tables under a giant plane tree is perched over the railway line and overlooking the Ancient Agora. It’s a popular old-style haunt for coffee as well as a great place for meze washed down with ouzo.
Adrianou 37, Monastiraki, +30 210 325 3333
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