Athens: The Plaka & Acropolis Museum

Our final day in Athens was on our own as the tour ended the night before after we returned from Delphi.  The hotel offered a free bus to/from the city center, near the Acropolis and the shopping area known as the Plaka.  So we spent out last day doing some last minute shopping and checking out the Acropolis museum.

The Plaka was interesting, but a typical shopping area of narrow streets stacked with shops of all types.  More of a surprise was how interesting we found the Acropolis Museum, newly constructed and open just a few years.  Because all of Athens is built on top of ancient ruins, whenever any construction is done near important antiquities, the archeology people must be involved.  Once a site was selected for the museum, near the actual site of the  Acropolis, the archeology work began and lasted for several years.  The result is a fabulous museum built above active archeology sites being excavated.  What makes this interesting is that the floors of the museum are glass so that visitors can see the work below and so that natural light can be present in the excavation areas.  It was really fascinating to see how that was done.  

The design of the museum patterns after the Parthenon, the key ruin on the Acropolis.  The top floor of the museum is built with exactly the same number of columns on all 4 sides as the Parthenon so that they can display the relief sculptures rescued from the actual site and show them in context as they had originally been used.  That was really interesting to see.  As in all of the other sites we visited, the work is ongoing to rescue statues, carvings, and all other artifacts to restore them and keep/display them in museums where they can be appreciated and preserved.  In many cases they then create replicas of the removed items to place on the actual site.  This maintains the site and preserves the carvings and sculptures.

Below are a few photos from the museum visit, with the full set in the photo library.  To learn more about the Acropolis Museum, click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acropolis_Museum.

The Acropolis at night from below.

The entrance to the Acropolis Museum.

Person doing excavation work under the walkway to the museum entrance.

Marble statue being cleaned using a special laser developed by the museum.

Relief sculptures displayed in sequence as,they were originally used on the Parthenon.  There are 16 pillars along the long side and 8 pillars along the short side, matching the construction of the Parthenon.

Acropolis and Parthenon from the museum outdoor cafe terrace.