A new Archaeological Museum of Athens, the "New Museum of the City of Athens", is to be built in the center of Athens. The museum, with a total area of 14,362 square meters, will be built on a site given to the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports by the Academy of Athens, adjacent to the historic surroundings of the Academy of Plato. The new building will be bioclimatic in order not to pollute the environment, while providing disabled people with unhindered access to all areas.
It was already announced in August that Anaplasi Athens S.A. is launching an architectural competition for the elaboration of the study that will lead to the construction of the Archaeological Museum of Athens, in the place where the museum has been located by law since 2002. The architectural competition is in the Programme Agreement signed by the Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, and the Mayor of Athens, Kostas Bakoyannis, in 2021.
Over 160 offices showed interest
According to well-informed sources, the interest in the competition exceeded all expectations, with more than 160 architectural museums from Greece, Europe and America showing interest. For this reason, Anaplasi Athens S.A. has decided to extend the dates. The new date is November 7, 2022.
Besides the enormous historical and cultural value that the creation of the Archaeological Museum of Athens has for the capital, the regeneration of the archaeological site and the grove will create a local pole of culture, greenery and recreation in one of the most degraded areas of the capital. The quality of life of the inhabitants will be improved and significantly enhanced, offering development opportunities and chances for job creation.
Athens gets its own archaeological museum
The Athens Archaeological Museum will exhibit finds from Athens that have never seen the light of day, and there are many of them. Athens, despite its centuries-old history, does not have its own archaeological museum (the existing one in Patision street houses finds from all over ancient Greece).
In fact, the Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, had stated in a statement made on the occasion of the launch of the architectural competition that "Athens, with its millennia of history, is perhaps the only metropolis that does not have a museum dedicated to its history and archaeology".
After the conclusion of the architectural competition for the construction, the way is clear for the maturation of the project, which will eventually be realized at the historic site of the Plato Academy.