Paul and Alexandra Canellopoulos Museum, Private collection museum at Plaka district, Athens, Greece
The Paul and Alexandra Canellopoulos Museum is a private collection in Plaka holding over 6,000 artifacts from Greece's past. Objects range from Neolithic times through Cycladic figurines and Minoan pottery to Byzantine icons, arranged chronologically to show nearly 5,000 years of human development.
The collection began in 1923 and was donated to the Greek state in 1976 by Paul and Alexandra Canellopoulos, after which the museum opened in a restored 19th-century mansion. This gift preserved a significant private assembly and made it available to everyone.
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 occupies a historic house with two underground floors accessible by stairs or elevator. A visit works best when moving from bottom to top to follow the chronological order of the artifacts.
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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