Paul and Alexandra Canellopoulos Museum, Private collection museum at Plaka district, Athens, Greece
The Paul and Alexandra Canellopoulos Museum occupies two adjoining buildings on Theorias street in Plaka, on the north slope of the Acropolis. The older is an 1894 neoclassical mansion of the Michaleas family, with three floors and painted ceilings on the upper one; a New Wing by architect P. Kalligas was added in 2007. The collection of about 6,500 objects spans almost six millennia, from the Neolithic era to the 19th century.
Paul Canellopoulos began forming the collection in 1923; it was donated to the Greek state in 1972, and the museum founded in 1976. It was installed in the Michaleas neoclassical mansion, built in 1894 and expropriated by the state in the 1960s-1970s. A New Wing by architect P. Kalligas followed in 2007.
The museum displays objects spanning different periods of Greek history, from prehistoric tools to folk art from the 18th and 19th centuries. Visitors can understand the daily life and artistic traditions that shaped the country across millennia.
The museum has a common entrance at 12 Theorias Street, serving both the 1894 neoclassical mansion and the 2007 New Wing. The Late Byzantine house and 13th-century Rizokastro wall remains found during construction are kept in the New Wing basement and are open to visitors. The mansion has three floors, with ceiling paintings on the upper one.
During construction of a new wing in 2007, workers discovered remains of a late Byzantine house and sections of a medieval fortress wall. These finds show that older historical layers still lie beneath the building's foundation.
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