Photo: Marsyas · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Byzantine and Christian Museum

The Byzantine and Christian Museum, housed in Villa Ilissia, holds collections of early Christian, Byzantine and post-Byzantine art.

Opening hoursAdmission €8 Wheelchair accessible Restaurant

Website Directions

About the museum

The museum is connected with the Christian Archaeological Society, founded in 1884, which assembled the first collections thanks to Georgios Lampakis. The Society's collection was housed in 1890 in the offices of the Holy Synod, and from 1893 to 1923 in a room of the National Archaeological Museum. The Byzantine Museum was officially founded in 1914 by Law 401, with Adamantios Adamantiou as its first director.

After the Asia Minor Catastrophe in 1923 Georgios Sotiriou took over the directorship and merged the Society's collection with the museum. In 1924 the collections were shown to the public for the first time in five rooms of the Academy of Athens, and in 1930 the museum was permanently installed in Villa Ilissia, the complex that the architect Stamatios Kleanthis built in 1848 for Sophia de Marbois-Lebrun, Duchess of Piacenza.

After the Second World War the museum reopened in 1946, and from the late 1980s it underwent a major renovation and extension. The early Christian and Byzantine collections were re-displayed in 2004, and the post-Byzantine ones were completed in 2010.

Highlights

Permanent exhibition “From the Ancient World to Byzantium”
Section “The World of Byzantium”
Section on intellectual and artistic mobility in the 15th century
Section “Byzantium and Modern Art”
Housed in Villa Ilissia by Stamatios Kleanthis
Café-restaurant and gardens of the museum

Permanent exhibition

Μόνιμη έκθεση: Από τον αρχαίο κόσμο στον βυζαντινό – Ο κόσμος του Βυζαντίου – Βυζάντιο και νεότερη τέχνη – The early Christian and Byzantine collections were re-displayed in 2004, and the post-Byzantine ones were completed in 2010, in sections from antiquity to modern times.

Founded: 1914
Operated by: Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού

Admission & discounts

Adults	€8
Reduced	€4Parents accompanying primary school visits from the EU and EEA, teachers accompanying school visits from non-EU countries, and EU citizens over 65 from 1 October to 31 May
Children & teens	freefree up to age 18 · Free admission for children and young people up to 25 from EU countries and for children up to 18 from non-EU countries, upon presentation of ID or passport.
Seniors	€4For EU citizens over 65, from 1 October to 31 May.
Visitors with disabilities	freecompanion free · Free admission for people with disabilities and one companion when the disability exceeds 67%.

Free admission: 6 March, 18 April, 18 May, the last weekend of September, 28 October, and every first and third Sunday of the month from 1 November to 31 March.

Separate tickets are required for some temporary exhibitions. Free admission is also granted to teachers on school visits, beneficiaries of the Social Solidarity Income, unemployed people and large families with a certificate.

Accessibility

Wheelchair accessible
Elevator: no information
Accessible restroom: no information
Accessible parking
Service dogs welcome: no information
Tactile models & exhibits
Sign language tours: no information
Easy-to-read materials: no information
Audio description: no information

The permanent exhibition is accessible to visitors with mobility difficulties. For blind and visually impaired visitors there is a tactile route, a special audio guide and an information leaflet in Braille. One parking space is reserved for visitors with disabilities. Groups must contact the Education Office in advance.