Iliou Melathron, Numismatic museum in central Athens, Greece.
Iliou Melathron is a three-storey Neorenaissance palais on Panepistimiou Street, built 1878–1880 by Ernst Ziller for Heinrich Schliemann on a 25 × 23 m plan. Its street facade is dominated by a two-storey dark-red painted loggia closed by an arcade of Ionic marble columns, with a marble staircase inside. Since 1998 it houses the Numismatic Museum, whose roughly 600,000 coins, medals, weights and stamps run from the 14th century BC to modern times.
The coin collection began in Aegina after Greek independence and was founded as a museum in 1838, alongside the National Archaeological Museum. It was housed successively in the University of Athens, the Academy of Athens and, from 1946, the National Archaeological Museum. Iliou Melathron was assigned to it in 1984; after renovation the collection opened there in 1998, fully viewable by 2007.
The collection displays coins from ancient Greek city-states, Byzantine kingdoms, and medieval periods. These pieces reveal how people traded and organized their societies through the currencies they used.
The museum stands at 12 Panepistimiou Street near Syntagma Square, served by the Syntagma metro station. A museum shop and a coffeehouse in the garden are available to visitors. The building is surrounded by a garden on three sides.
The building, known as Iliou Melathron, displays Renaissance Revival architecture with preserved interior mosaics depicting scenes from Greek mythology. These artistic details in the house itself make the visit as rewarding as the collection inside.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,868 contributors worldwide.
