On the 10th anniversary of the Acropolis Museum, when we entered the bowels of the Museum for the first time, we had a unique experience, when the level of the archaeological excavation at the base of the building was included in the visitable areas, a huge in situ exhibition that brought to this day the authentic atmosphere of the ancient Athenian quarter south of the Acropolis.
It is a fascinating journey through time and into the daily lives of the people who lived in the shadow of the Acropolis rock for more than 4,500 years.
The vision, proudly presented by the late Dimitris Pandermalis, is completed this summer, on June 26, with the opening to the public of the Excavation Museum, a “Museum within the Museum”, as he characteristically referred to, in the established annual calendar report, by the director Nikolaos Stampolidis, who seemed to share the same enthusiasm for the project at the excavation level, as for the continuous development of the Museum experience without relying on ticket sales.
The archaeological excavation
An ancient neighborhood of Athens is uniquely integrated into the architecture of the Acropolis Museum as another exhibit, interacting with the masterpieces of ancient Greek civilization presented on its floors. Built on the gentle continuity of the southern slope of the rock, it reflects the life and activities of man from the 4th millennium BC to the 12th century AD. Streets, houses, baths, workshops and tombs make up a complex framework of archaeological remains, being the best preserved from late antiquity.
Today, only a part of what has been revealed by the excavations of the Makrigiannis site, as the enclosed area around the Museum is called. Another part is kept covered, while another was removed for the construction of the underground levels of the Museum and the “Acropolis” Metro station.
In addition to the buildings, the excavations at the Makrygianni site brought to light a series of objects – sculptures, vases, coins – that offer important information about the lives of the region’s inhabitants throughout its long historical history.
In dialogue with the old neighborhood
This excavation is very important. It is located in an area that Thucydides, in his second book on the history of Athens, claims to be the oldest in Athens. And he argues in his own way, saying that there is the ancient sanctuary of Olympian Zeus, the sanctuary of the Earth, the sanctuary of Pythian Apollo, the sanctuary of En Limnais Dionysus. In addition, the excavations have brought to light, in the southwest corner, outside the Museum, the sanctuary of Kodros, the mythical king of Athens.
Since the first public visit to the archaeological excavation site in 2019, plans have been announced to create a separate exhibition, in dialogue with the ancient quarter and the remains that can be explored by walking along the dirt roads. On the one hand, as visitors will discover, an innovative environment has been created to better display a total of 1,150 objects – all found in the ancient quarter on the southern slope of the Acropolis, which we know was inhabited for more than 4,500 years.
However, since 2019, the documentation of these objects has been completed by the Department of the Collection of Classical, Hellenistic and Roman Antiquities and, together with their physical display in the new excavation exhibition, they will also be posted on the Acropolis Museum website.
The addition of the new exhibition to the Museum’s visiting areas in June will not be accompanied by an additional cost to the entrance ticket, however from the next winter season (i.e. from 1 November) the price will increase from 15 to 20 euros, but the ticket will remain reduced to the price of 10 euros.