Greek Folk Art, Folk art museum in Plaka district, Athens, Greece

The Museum of Greek Folk Art is distributed across multiple locations in Athens, displaying traditional handcrafted items such as regional costumes, wooden sculptures, silver objects, and pottery. The collections span different buildings throughout the city to showcase the range of Greek folk heritage.

Founded in 1918 as the Museum of Greek Handicrafts, the institution opened in the Tzistarakis Mosque on Monastiraki square. It was later renamed the National Museum of Decorative Arts and took its present name, Museum of Greek Folk Art, in 1959. In 1973 the main collection and functions moved to 17 Kydathinaion Street in Plaka, and the mosque became an annex. A relocation of the central collections to the restored buildings of the "Cour des miracles", between Hadrian's Library and the Stoa of Attalos, is under way.

The museum's name changed from Museum of Greek Handicrafts to National Museum of Decorative Arts and finally, in 1959, to Museum of Greek Folk Art. Its annexes carry their own histories: the Tzistarakis Mosque in Monastiraki now holds the V. Kyriazopoulos Collection of Folk Pottery, and the old Public Baths on Kyrristou Street, the only surviving bathhouse building in Athens, form another branch.

The museum's main building is at 17 Kydathinaion Street in Plaka, with annexes at the Tzistarakis Mosque on Monastiraki Square and the old Public Baths at 8 Kyrristou Street. The baths are the only surviving public bathhouse building in Athens. A project is under way to move the main collections to the restored buildings of the "Cour des miracles", between Hadrian's Library and the Stoa of Attalos.

The Bath House of the Winds, a former public bathhouse dating to the 15th century, was only integrated into the museum in 1998 and retains its original architectural character. The space reveals how bathhouses functioned in the daily life of the city before they gradually fell out of use in the 20th century.