Top-10 Greek Museums you can [virtually] visit

The past year I’ve been “walking around” in museum exhibitions and exploring many collections, from the comfort of my home.

The National Archaeological Museum is the largest and one of the most fascinating museums in Greece. Its vast collections include amazing treasures mainly from the Greek past, waiting for you to discover. The website guides you through the collections, offering lots of information and many photos of several interesting objects. Additionally, there are several virtual or digital exhibitions you can visit. Learn more about politics in ancient Greece in the “Athenian Democracy; The freedom of the individual as a political value”. Lose yourself in the harmony and beauty of Greek aesthetics in the “Countless Aspects of Beauty”. Get to know Hadrian, the Roman Emperor who loved Athens, at the “HADRIAN AND ATHENS. Conversing with an ideal world”. Explore the stories of ancient Greek battles at the “Glorious Victories. Between Myth and History”. Discover Greek antiquities along with European artworks of the 18th and 19th centuries at the “These are what we fought for… Antiquities and the Greek War of Independence”.

The Acropolis Museum, one of the most popular museums in the country, offers on its website a variety of online experiences (which they’re still enriching). First of all, you can watch a 5-minute video here for a quick view of the museum, or you can take your time exploring at your own pace through Google Arts and Culture, here. My favourite though is the several applications of the website. You can do so many things! Spend a morning in ancient Athens, be part of a wedding ceremony, colour the statue of Peplos Kore, study thousands of years of Acropolis’s history, read ancient inscriptions, and so much more. In addition to this, if you’re a kid (or feel like one), there’s a whole website of fun applications, educational activities and games just for you! Not a big fan of applications? Not a problem! Enjoy just reading about the exhibitions and seeing many exhibits, starting with the highlights.

Benaki is a network of museums and galleries, many of which are offering virtual experiences. You can take a 360˚ virtual tour choosing among four galleries. There’s also an audio guide for the tour in six different languages. Visit the Benaki Museum of Greek Culture (also known as the central building) to explore Greek history through artefacts from prehistory to the 20th century, the Benaki Museum of Islamic Art, one of the most important of its type in the world, the Ghika Gallery to admire the wonderful collection of the artist Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika, and the Yannis Pappas Studio, to see a unique example of the workspace of an artist devoted to both sculpture and painting. Furthermore, you should really watch some of the Benaki CLOSE-UPS, a series of really cool videos where you can get a closer look and hear the fascinating stories behind specific objects.

If you’re interested in Greek medieval history and Byzantine art you should check the virtual tour of the Byzantine and Christian Museum, where you can explore its permanent exhibition. Alternatively, take a look at their digitized collections for pictures and details of several objects, or learn through playing games!

The Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki offers a fantastic digital “walk-through” of its permanent exhibitions. You can read all about the different time periods and aspects of ancient Macedonia and look at the unique and extraordinary objects in the collections. In addition to information and good-quality photographs, you can also access floor plans and see photos of gallery views to get a taste of the museum’s physical space. For a quick view, check the highlights. Last but not least, you can read and download (free access) catalogues of past exhibitions!

Have you ever wondered what was it like to live on a Greek island in the 18th and 19th centuries? Now you can find out by visiting the Historic Residence of Lazaros Koundouriotis. This beautiful historic mansion is located on Hydra island and it used to belong to an eminent local family. Today, it’s part of the National Historical Museum network and it houses a permanent exhibition about the Koundouriotis family, as well as art exhibitions displaying works of Periklis Vyzantios, Konstantinos (Dikos) Vyzantios, and Panagiotis Tetsis. Take a virtual tour and start exploring!

Speaking of visiting historical buildings, the Bath House of the Winds (part of the Museum of Modern Greek Culture) is a really fun place you can visit online. Dating around the 15th-17th century, it’s the only public bath of Athens surviving today. With this virtual tour, you’ll get to know this unique building and learn about the bathing rituals of people long ago. If you’re interested to know more about the everyday life of Greeks from antiquity until the 18th cent. focusing on bathing etc. check the interactive timeline “Hygiene Objects and Toiletries” and the “The history of baths as buildings”.

Goulandris Museum is a treat for all the natural history fans out there. The first of its kind in Greece, now it has thousands of samples in its Botany, Marine biology, Terrestrial Zoology, Geology, and Paleontology collections. You can virtually visit the museum’s permanent exhibition, separated into three main sections: animals (vertebrates), geology, and botany-insects-hydrobiology. The exploration is quite relaxing, as the information of the several stations of the tour is in a form of a brief, yet very informative video.

The Archaeological Museum of Thebes is a really cool museum, which definitely worth a visit. You can explore the captivating history of the important city of Thebes (Thiva) and the greater area of Boeotia. Take a 360˚ virtual tour of the permanent exhibitions, watch videos, check out 3D models of objects and read through the book guide of the museum. You’ll discover heroes and myths you’ve probably heard about, and you’ll be surprised by the richness of the museum’s collections, spanning from the Palaeolithic to the Post Byzantine periods.

The PIOP foundation has a network of seven museums and it offers a 360° experience on its website. You can’t explore the museums yourself, however, you can get a taste of their permanent exhibitions through 360° photographs. Moreover, you can fully explore one of their temporary exhibitions, which was organised in collaboration with the National Historical Museum of Athens. The navigation is easy and it has many stops where you can see the exhibits and clearly read all the texts. At the “’21 allios’ The Greek War of Independence in PLAYMOBIL dioramas” exhibition you’ll have fun learning about the Greek War of Independence with the help of cute Playmobil figurines!