G2NPXM Traditional Greek costumes on display at The Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece G2NPXM Benaki, museum, costumes, clothes, clothing, Athens, Greece, Greek, art, arts, capital, cities, city, traditional, costume, craft, crafts, cultural, heritage, culture, design, designs, display, dress, embroidery, museums, needlework, sewing, Attika

Alamy Stock Photo

Benaki Museum of Greek Culture

Top choice in Athens

LoginSave

In 1930 Antonis Benakis – a politician's son born in Alexandria, Egypt, in the late 19th century – endowed what is perhaps the finest museum in Greece. Its three floors showcase impeccable treasures from the Bronze Age up to WWII. Especially gorgeous are the Byzantine icons and the extensive collection of Greek regional costumes, as well as complete sitting rooms from Macedonian mansions, intricately carved and painted. Benakis had such a good eye that even the agricultural tools are beautiful.

The variety of displays here, including Classical Greek masterpieces, means that it's great for a group with varied interests. Late opening hours are another plus.

Note also that there are two other major branches, 138 Pireos St for contemporary art, and the Museum of Islamic Art in Keramikos, as well as several smaller museums. A €25 pass to all is valid for three months.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • ATHENS, GREECE - OCTOBER 19, 2016: The Acropolis Museum is an archaeological museum focused on the findings of the archaeological site of the Acropolis of Athens in Greece. 572766724 acropolis, ancient, archaeological, archaeology, archeology, architecture, athena, athens, attraction, building, capital, city, civilization, classical, culture, europe, european, exterior, greece, greek, heritage, history, inside, interior, landmark, modern, museum, new, parthenon, sculpture, site, tourism, travel, view

    Acropolis Museum

    0.83 MILES

    This dazzling museum at the foot of the Acropolis' southern slope showcases its surviving treasures. The collection covers the Archaic period to the Roman…

  • Parthenon.

    Parthenon

    0.81 MILES

    Designed to be the pre-eminent monument of the Acropolis, the Parthenon epitomises the glory of Ancient Greece. Meaning 'virgin's apartment', it's…

  • Erechtheion Temple (or Erechtheum) with the figures of Caryatids at the archaeological site of Acropolis in Athens, Greece at sunset. It was dedicated to both Athena and Poseidon. Golden soft light; Shutterstock ID 2144514097; your: Erin Lenczycki; gl: 65050; netsuite: Digital; full: Digital 2144514097

    Acropolis

    0.8 MILES

    The Acropolis is the most important ancient site in the Western world. Crowned by the Parthenon, it stands sentinel over Athens, visible from almost…

  • Greece, Attica, Athens, ancient grave yard Kerameikos, old columns antiquity, archaeological excavation, archaeological site, athens, attica, column, difference, divers, grave yard, historical, landmark, remains, stone, stony, travel destination, various Old columns in the ancient grave yard at Keramikos Archaeological Site.

    Kerameikos

    1.28 MILES

    This lush, tranquil site is named for the potters who settled it around 3000 BC. It was used as a cemetery through the 6th century AD. The grave markers…

  • Odeon of Agrippa statues in the Ancient Agora of Athens, Greece 637930866 Triton, Travel, People Traveling, Ancient Civilization, Tourism, Looking At View, Cloudscape, Giant, Antiquities, Mythology, The Ancient Agora, Art, Stone Material, Statue, Sculpture, Archaeology, Speculative Being, Greek Culture, Number, Roman, Classical Greek, Ruined, History, Ancient, Old, Cultures, Famous Place, Architecture, Travel Destinations, Tourist, Roman Forum, Acropolis - Athens, Athens - Greece, Attica - Greece, Greece, Europe, Animal, Marble, Cloud - Sky, Architectural Column, Monument, Old Ruin, Cityscape, agrippa, odeion, God, Odeon Cinemas

    Ancient Agora

    0.94 MILES

    The Agora was ancient Athens' heart, the lively hub of administrative, commercial, political and social activity. Socrates expounded his philosophy here;…

  • ATHENS, GREECE - APRIL 8, 2011: Statue of hunter on the horse killing lion in Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens; Shutterstock ID 1701764272; your: Erin Lenczycki; gl: 65050; netsuite: digital; full: poi 1701764272 ancient, art, athens, building, carving, culture, decoration, detail, greece, heritage, history, horse, hunter, landmark, late antique, lion, monument, old, relief, religion, religious, roman, sculpture, statue, stone, temple, tourism, travel, warrior

    Byzantine & Christian Museum

    0.25 MILES

    This outstanding museum, based in the 1848 Villa Ilissia, offers exhibition halls, most of them underground, crammed with religious art. The exhibits go…

  • Ceramic vase like hedgehog in National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece. Remains of famous Ancient Greek culture. Old artifact, historical dishes, crockery and pottery. Athens - May 7, 2018; Shutterstock ID 1522798868; your: Erin Lenczycki; gl: 65050; netsuite: digital; full: poi 1522798868 amphora, ancient, animal, antique, antiquity, archaeological, archeology, art, artifact, athens, civilization, clay, crock, crockery, culture, dish, europe, exhibition, exposition, famous, fix, greece, greek, hedgehog, hellenistic, historical, history, indoor, jar, landmark, museum, mycenae, mykines, national, old, ornate, peloponnese, pitcher, pot, pottery, roman, showcase, sightseeing, tableware, tourism, tourist, travel, vase, ware, zoomorphic

    National Archaeological Museum

    1 MILES

    Housing the world's finest collection of Greek antiquities in an enormous neoclassical building, this museum is one of Athens' top attractions. Treasures…

  • Columns at the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens. 1210311976 acropolis, ancient, archeology, architecture, art, athens, atina, attiki, attiva, blue, capital, city, civilization, classical, column, construction, corinthian, culture, europe, famous, god, greece, greek, hellenic, hill, history, landmark, marble, monument, old, olympian, parthenon, past, pillar, plaka, religion, ruin, sight, sky, stone, temple, tourism, tourist, touristic, travel, vacation, view, white, zeus

    Temple of Olympian Zeus

    0.52 MILES

    A can't-miss on two counts: it's a marvellous temple, once the largest in Greece, and it's smack in the centre of Athens. Of the temple's 104 original…

View more attractions

Nearby Athens attractions

1. Presidential Guard

0.05 MILES

Get a close-up look at the evzones, the traditionally dressed Greek soldiers, standing in front of their main barracks and, further down Irodou Attikou,…

2. Museum of Cycladic Art

0.1 MILES

The 1st floor of this exceptional private museum is dedicated to the iconic minimalist marble Cycladic figurines, dating from 3000 BC to 2000 BC. They…

4. Aristotle's Lyceum

0.17 MILES

Excavated only in 2011, this site is not much to look at – only building outlines are visible – but it is hallowed ground. Aristotle founded his school…

5. Parliament

0.21 MILES

Built between 1836 and 1842 by Bavarian architect Friedrich von Gärtner, Greece's Parliament was originally the royal palace. From its balcony, the…

6. National Garden

0.23 MILES

The former royal gardens, designed by Queen Amalia in 1838, are a pleasantly unkempt park that makes a welcome shady refuge from summer heat and traffic…

7. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

0.23 MILES

In front of Parliament, the traditionally costumed evzones (presidential guards) stand by the tomb and change every hour on the hour. On Sunday at 11am, a…

8. Byzantine & Christian Museum

0.25 MILES

This outstanding museum, based in the 1848 Villa Ilissia, offers exhibition halls, most of them underground, crammed with religious art. The exhibits go…