Acropolis Museum

Acropolis Museum

Acropolis | Approach | The Rock | Museum

The Acropolis Museum houses priceless finds. If you visit the Museum prior to your walk around the site you will be able to better understand the history and function of the Acropolis, as the most important religious centre of the city of Athens and thus enjoy it even more.

IMPORTANT EXHIBITS

THE MOSCHOFOROS

"The calf bearer", an exceptionally fine statue of a bearded youth of the 6th century B.C., carrying a calf on his shoulders gift to the goddess Athena.

THE KORES

The Archaic Kores were statues of young women. offered to Athena over a long period of time. No Kore is similar to another. The difference in the way their hair is set and their dresses pleated, offer one a chance to admire the evolution of the art of sculpture in ancient Greece.

PARTHENON DECORATION (444-432 B.C.)

These are the few remains of the masterpiece of all time. See among them a few slabs from the frieze depicting the Olympian gods a few metopes depicting a scene from the Centauromachia and so on.

CARYATIDS

These statues of beautiful priestesses. were used to support the roof of the south porch of the Erechtheion (420 B.C.).

They were probably named after the women of Caryes (an ancient city in Arcadia,Peloponnese), who were supposed to be the models for the statues.

During the Turkish occupation the Caryatids were called Petrified Princesses or Girls of the Castle.
Tradition says that when Lord Elgin "abducted" one of the Caryatids together with the other sculptures from the Parthenon, the remaining five used to weep every night for the loss of their sister.

Crying or not. they are magnificent. unique and unforgettable.