New Acropolis Museum

The New Acropolis Museum is situated at the bottom of the Acropolis. Designed by New York architect Bernard Tshumi, the building is modern, and constructed from glass and steel.

The collection includes 4,000 objects, dating from prehistoric times through to the Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods and up to late Antiquity (1,000 B.C. to 700 A.D.). At least 300 are considered to be of major historical and cultural importance. A particularly interesting feature in the glass-bottomed lobby, through which visitors are able to observe the archaeological remains beneath its foundations.

Tshumi has openly called for the Elgin Marbles, currently owned by the British Museum, to be housed in his new building alongside the rest of the Parthenon Frieze. Though their return is not guaranteed, there is a special display set up for the missing marbles, and plaster replicas are, in the meantime, displayed in their place. The British Museum have angered the Greek authorities by stating that they will not return the artefacts.

The New Acropolis Museum replaced The old Acropolis Museum, which was constructed between 1865 and 1874 by Panagis Kalkos on the Sacred Rock, east of the Parthenon, and which was considered one of the most important in the world. The building housed many of the most important relics from the Acropolis and all of Ancient Greece. However, it was decided in the 1980s that the New Acropolis Museum would be created to cope with the swell in artefacts and visitors.

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