The Acropolis Museum focuses on the archaeological finds found at the Acropolis in Athens. The museum was built exclusively to show the artifacts found and is located in Athens, Greece, on the southeastern slope of the Acropolis hill. The Museum was opened to the public for the first time in June 20, 2009. The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient Greek citadel situated on a rocky hill overlooking the city of Athens. The Acropolis includes the remains of several ancient buildings of historical and architectural importance for Greece, and the Parthenon is the most famous building.
The museum building
The museum was designed by Bernard Tschumi whose design was selected by many others in a competition. The museum is built on an archaeological site, and most of the walls and floors are made of transparent glass so you can see the ongoing excavation under the building. The building has three levels that are used to display the artifacts and a fourth level shared by a cafe, a museum shop and offices. The artifacts from the slope of the Acropolis are displayed on the first level, and the hall on the first level was made to resemble the climb to the Acropolis; it is a rectangle and has an inclined plane. The trapezoidal room houses ancient artifacts, sculptures and artifacts from other Acropolis buildings. Visitors are usually directed to start the museum tour from the highest level as they descend down. The upper level of the museum is positioned to take on the same angle as the old temple on the Acropolis. The upper level has the Parthenon marbles on display and is called the Parthenon hall. The columns of the hall received the same distance as those of the ancient temple; the walls are made of glass, and this allows natural light to illuminate and illuminate the Parthenon marbles as it did in the old temple. Columns 48 in the hall are built on an old temple structure and the marbles are displayed at eye level at the end of the columns. The old temple on the Acropolis can be seen from the northern side of the Parthenon corridor.
Award-winning museum
The museum has won numerous awards including the British Guild of Travel Writers in 2010 and the American Institute of Architects Award for its architecture in 2011. Other awards include the International Association of Lighting Designers Award of Excellence and Sustainability in 2010, the Keck Award in 2012, and also the ninth of the 25 best museums in the world for 2016 in TripAdvisor.
Visit to the museum
To enter the museum there is an entrance fee of € 5, but no expense is charged during International Museum Day and full moon nights in August, and in those days the museum is open until late. The museum has one of the five digital classrooms located in a museum in Europe; the classroom was created in 2016 by Samsung. The museum is one of the most visited sites in Greece.
