Loverdos Museum, Byzantine art museum in central Athens, Greece.
The Ziller-Lovérdos Mansion is a neoclassical and neo-Renaissance urban palace of over 1,000 m² on three levels. Its facade carries eight high-relief caryatid busts supporting the projecting lintel of the upper windows. Inside, Hymettus marble paves the ground floor and painted decorations are by Slovenian artist Jurij Šubic, notably in the Pompeian salon.
Ernst Ziller bought the plot near the Academy of Athens in 1882 and completed the villa in 1885; funding included 20,000 drachmas left by Baron Simon von Sina. Ziller sold it in 1912 for 150,000 drachmas to banker Dionysios Loverdos, who remodelled the upper floor and later added a chapel in the garden to display his collection of about 500 icons.
The Loverdos collection holds about 500 icons, iconostases and wooden carvings, with works of the Cretan and Ionian Schools shown in the former studio of Ernst Ziller. Dionysios Loverdos had the architect's workshop rebuilt to display it, and the museum opened in May 2021 as an annex of the Byzantine and Christian Museum.
The site sits in the city center and is easily reached by public transportation or on foot from various neighborhoods. Plan to spend a few hours exploring the artwork and interior spaces at a comfortable pace.
This house became one of Greece's first privately owned museums dedicated specifically to preserving religious art history. The transformation of a private residence into a public gallery represents an unusual way collectors chose to share their passion with the broader community.
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