The Benaki Museum Athens – Tips for visiting the Benaki museum

The Benaki Museum is considered to be one of the best museums in Athens. It has a diverse collection of artefacts and exhibits, all laid out in chronological order. For visitors spending just a few days in Athens, it is the perfect place to soak up some Greek history and culture. Read on to find out more.

The main building of the Benaki Museum in Athens

About The Benaki Museum

Ask anyone in Athens where the Benaki Museum is, and they will point you in the direction of the building on 1 Koumbari St. & Vas. Sofias Ave.

This is known as the Main Building, and for most people, this IS the Benaki Museum.

That is not entirely accurate though. The Benaki Museum is actually a foundation. This Benaki foundation has 9 buildings, three of which are classed as museums and are open to the public.

I will write a fuller blog post about the individual museums and the foundation at some point in the future. For the sake of simplicity however, I will refer to the Main Building as The Benaki Museum for this blog post.

The Benaki Museum – Main Building

The Main Building of the Benaki Museum Athens is housed in a neo-classical building, near the Museum of Cycladic Art. It has undergone several renovations and extensions since the core of the building was built in 1895.

The museum as we see it today was officially re-opened in the year 2000. There are a mix of permanent and temporary exhibitions laid out over four floors.

These are laid out in an approximate chronological order, and each room is well numbered. Finding your way around the Benaki Museum is easy. Start at Room 1, and work your way through and up until you reach Room 36.

The Benaki Museum – Ground Floor

The ground floor of the museum was to me the most interesting. It covered the period of history from the Neolithic right through to the 17th century.

Neolithic vase dating back from 2300 BC on display in the Benaki Museum in Athens

This triple vase is incredibly sophisticated, considering it dates back to 2300 BC.

Display exhibited in the Benaki Museum in Athens

Having been to a few museums in Athens now, it was quite easy for me to see the development of Greek culture and history as I walked through.

It also made me think, that the Benaki Museum is actually like a condensed version of many of the other museums I have visited in Athens so far.

This has its good and bad points, which I will write more about in a conclusion of my visit at the bottom of this article.

The Benaki Museum – First Floor

The first floor of the Benaki Museum continues with the late post-Byzantine era. The concept of this floor, is to present exhibits created and used under “foreign domination”.

Whilst this of course means Ottoman rule, there was really very little background information to this period in history.

National costume on display in the Benaki Museum of Athens

The Benaki Museum – Second Floor

The second floor of the Benaki Museum is smaller than the others, mainly because this is where the cafeteria/restaurant is located.

This has some great views, and I highly recommend sitting down for a coffee to break up the tour of the museum.

The rest of the floor focuses on paintings and other objects from just prior to the Greek War of Independence. There is also a room here which acts as a temporary exhibition space.

The Benaki Museum – Third Floor

The final floor of the Benaki Museum focuses largely on the Greek War of Independence. There are numerous paintings of scenes from the struggle for liberty from the Ottoman Empire, as well as portraits of revolution heroes.

There is also a small section dedicated to Eleftherios Venizelos, arguably the most influential politician and architect of the modern Greek state. Just on from that, a tiny cabinet on World War 1, and at that point, this journey through Greek history ends.

A guide to the Benaki Museum in Athens. This museum documents Greek history and culture in chronological order from the Neolithic period, to the end of the First World War. A 'must-see' when visiting Athens, Greece.

Conclusion

The Benaki Museum provides a great insight into Greek history, and the development of Greek culture through the centuries.

It does an excellent job of condensing this into one museum, which takes between 1 and 2 hours to walk around. This makes it an ideal place for people to visit if they only have limited time in Athens.

If anyone is in Athens for longer though, I would suggest visiting the following museums as well. These are dedicated museums, which focus on the areas covered in the Benaki Museum in more detail.

  1. Museum of Cycladic Art
  2. National Archaeological Museum of Athens
  3. Byzantine and Christian Museum
  4. Eleftherios Venizelos Historical Museum
  5. Museum of Popular Music Instruments
  6. National Historical Museum of Greece (Old Parliament House)
  7. Museum on Panos Street

Byzantine display in the Benaki Museum in Athens

Useful Information for Visiting the Benaki Museum

The Benaki Museum has weird opening hours! The best day to visit is on a Thursday, as until March 2016, it is open 09.00 to 24.00, and admission is free. The complete opening hours are below.

Working Hours
Wednesday, Friday: 9:00 – 17:00
Thursday, Saturday: 9.00 – 24.00
Sunday: 9:00 – 15:00

OPEN

HOLY WEEK:
Wednesday: 9:00 – 17:00
Tuesday: 09.00 – 17.00 (only The Shop)
Thursday: 9:00 – 24:00
Friday: 12:00 – 18:00
Saturday: 9:00 – 15:00

Closed on Monday, Tuesday and the following holidays:
March 25th, May 1st, August 15th, October 28th, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, New Year's Day, Epiphany, Easter Day, Easter Monday, Clean Monday, Holy Spirit Day.”

Opening hours for museums in Athens do change on a whim though. If you want to make sure it is open for your visit, call first at tel 210 367 1000. You can also visit their website >> https://www.benaki.gr/.

The Main Building of the Benaki Museum is located at 1 Koumbari St. & Vas. Sofias Ave. The closest metro stations are Syntagma and Evagelismos.

Would you like more info on visiting Athens and Greece? Check out my travel tips to Greece. If you're thinking of visiting Athens during the festive period, my guide on how to spend Christmas in Athens may be useful.

FAQ About Greek Culture and the Benaki Museum

Readers who plan a trip to central Athens and want to visit the Benaki Museum of Greek history and culture often ask questions similar to:

What does the Benaki museum have?

The Benaki Museum houses Byzantine Period Art; Prehistoric, Ancient, and Roman Art; Chinese Art; Post-Byzantine and Neo-Hellenic Art; as well as historic heirlooms.

Is Benaki museum free?

The Benaki Museum offers free access to the permanent collection every Thursday, from 18:00 to midnight. Please be advised that temporary exhibitions are not free to see.

How much does it cost to go to the Benaki museum?

The full admission fee to the permanent exhibition of the Benaki Museum is now 12 Euros.

What is the biggest museum in Greece?

The National Archaeological Museum of Athens is Greece's largest archaeological museum, and it is one of the world's most important museums dedicated to ancient Greek art and ancient Greek artefacts.

Where is the museum of Islamic Art in Athens?

The Benaki Museum has a separate building for its Islamic Art collections, which is located in Athens' ancient centre, in the Kerameikos area. 


Which one is Dave Briggs and which one is the donkey on SyrosDave Briggs

Dave is a travel writer who's been living in Athens since 2015. In addition to writing these Benaki Museum reviews, he's created hundreds of other travel blogs about Athens and destinations throughout Greece which you can find here on Dave's Travel Pages. 

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3 thoughts on “The Benaki Museum Athens – Tips for visiting the Benaki museum”

  1. Great and detailed information about the museum. Will be sure to stop in the next time I’m in Athens. Sounds like a lot of fun.

    Reply
  2. I love museums in Athens! Especially, the ones with ancient items, so I can spend long time on the ground Floor! 🙂
    I visited there a few museums and still cannot decide which one I like the most, everywhere is something very unique! 🙂

    Reply
  3. As a history lover, I always appreciate your posts. Interestingly, one tip in this post stands out because of a conversation I was just having about how to visit a museum with kids. I loved how you pointed out the coffee shop and how it’s a great place to rest before moving on to the rest of the museum. If you’re actually going to “do” a museum, then breezing through is not the way to get the most out of it. Smaller chunks are more digestible and will let the entire experience have a bigger impact.

    Reply

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