Acropolis Museum

One of the top attractioins in Athens, the Acropolis Museum, which cost $200 million to build, is 226,000 square feet of glass and concrete and sits below the base of the Acropolis with a direct view of the Parthenon. This was one of the highest profile cultural projects undertaken in Europe in this decade with many architects worldwide vying for the honor of designing the museum.

The chosen architect for this task was New York-based architect Bernard Tschumi. Nearly 4,000 objects are exhibited in an area of 14,000 square meters and it opened to the public on June 21, 2009.

It is a museum focused on the findings of the archaeological site of the Acropolis and was built to house every artifact found on the “sacred rock” from the Greek Bronze Age to Roman and Byzantine Greece. It is wonderful to look out the huge windows and see the Acropolis as you have the statues within touching distance.  It is quite an education for the whole family. Bring memory chips..

As the museum is built over an ancient part of Athens so cleverly, the architect has you , in the entrance way, walk over transparent glass looking down at the rooms and utensils of the past. The museum also provides an amphitheater, a virtual theatre (English and Greek), and a hall for temporary exhibitions.