Description of the attraction
The first Archaeological Museum in Thessaloniki opened its doors to the general public back in 1925. The home for the museum was then the Eni Jami Mosque (better known as the New Mosque), built at the beginning of the 20th century by the talented Italian architect Vitaliano Posseli. However, over time, it became clear that the rapidly growing collection was in dire need of a more spacious structure, and in the 1950s it was decided to allocate a plot of land along Manolis Andronikos Street specifically for the construction of a new museum.
The opening ceremony of the museum, designed by the famous Greek architect Patroklos Quarantinos, took place in 1962, and was timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the city from the Turks who dominated Thessaloniki for almost five centuries. In 1980, a new exhibition wing was erected, where, until 1997, visitors to the museum could admire the unique collection of artifacts from the royal tomb of Vergina (most of the treasures are now kept in the Archaeological Museum of Vergina).
The collection of the Archaeological Museum is vast and varied and perfectly illustrates the history of the development of so-called Greek Macedonia, from prehistoric times to late antiquity. The collection of the museum presents various funerary artifacts found during excavations of ancient necropolises, architectural fragments, sculpture, jewelry, coins, ceramics, Roman mosaics, weapons and much more. Among the most famous and valuable exhibits of the museum is the famous bronze vessel from the 3rd century BC. with dancing figures of maenads and satyrs known as "Derveni Crater", a statue of Harpocrates (2nd century BC), a bronze helmet and a golden mask from a cemetery in Sindos (6th century BC), a collection of gold medals (250-225 BC) and the head of Serapis (2nd century BC). For convenience and better assimilation of information, the exhibition space is divided into thematic blocks - "Prehistoric Macedonia", "The emergence of cities", "Macedonia 7th century BC. - late antiquity "," Gold of Macedonia ", etc.
In addition to permanent exhibitions, the Archaeological Museum regularly hosts specialized temporary exhibitions, as well as informative lectures and seminars, and a variety of cultural events.
