Exploring the Acropolis Museum in Athens

2017-06-02 · Updated: 2026-08-11 · Original (Korean)

This article was translated from the original Korean post with AI assistance. Read the original Korean post →

Getting lost in thought and spacing out while traveling solo is only fun for a day or two; sightseeing alone all the time gets boring. The core of solo travel is syncing yourself with historical events or figures when you see ruins or beautiful scenery, or just enjoying a different level of thinking, but that hasn't been happening at all since I arrived in Athens. Before going to Russia, I knew what to expect and read a lot of books and blogs, so even just visiting a cathedral was a fun way to spend time. But in Athens, I feel like I'm just walking around looking at rocks.

So, I decided to look for travel companions on 'Yurang' (a popular Korean travel community). I'm planning to meet up with them today, grab dinner together, and chat away in Korean to my heart's content. Before that, I plan to spend my free time dedicating the day to the Acropolis Museum, which I had to turn away from previously because they stop letting people in at 3 PM.

Located just past the Acropolis ticket office, the Acropolis Museum is the place I've been looking forward to the most in Athens. That's because most of the artifacts from the Acropolis ruins have replicas placed outside with signs saying "Taken by the British" or "Housed in the Acropolis Museum." There's a reason the ruins outside feel so empty.

I paid the €5 ticket price and went in. As the name "New Acropolis" suggests, it's a newly built, modern museum, so I was a bit surprised the admission was only €5. I was surprised again by the strict security check, scanning my whole body as I entered. It really makes you realize just how important the things inside must be.

Ancient Greek marble relief sculptures exhibited in a long line along the wall

Marble relief depicting people riding galloping horses

Marble sculpture depicting a battle between a half-human, half-horse centaur and a human — Frieze (decorative carvings on the wall like a mural) from the Parthenon

Excited after entering, I started taking pictures of the exhibits I saw, but a staff member came over and very politely informed me that photography wasn't allowed. I had been snapping away without hesitation in Russia, so the thought that I couldn't take pictures here hadn't even crossed my mind. When I asked, they said photography is restricted depending on the exhibition area. Generally, the things that are so beautiful or fascinating that you absolutely want to photograph them are the ones you aren't allowed to shoot. Thankfully, the Caryatid maidens are allowed.

Ancient statues exhibited on the walls and pillars of a spacious exhibition room with natural light — Most of the sculptures that were in the Parthenon can be photographed.

Information board explaining the arrangement and names of the figures in the Parthenon pediment sculptures — The pediment from the west side of the Parthenon. It looks like famous gods are listed from the left. The only ones I know are Hermes, Athena, and Poseidon. No wonder I'm not finding this very fun. If you look at the drawing, the colored parts are what remains today, and the rest is restored.

Relief depicting a figure with a fluttering cloak controlling a rearing horse

Damaged ancient marble statues mounted on iron supports and reliefs on the wall — These are roughly the remaining parts from A to L (the left side, centering on the middle).

People viewing statues in an exhibition room with a view of downtown Athens through the glass windows — These are the sculptures from the remaining right side.

Marble upper body sculpture of a man exhibited on a metal pillar — It's broken and missing pieces, but the outlines of the chest and abs really stand out.

Most of the artifacts in the Acropolis Museum only have fragments remaining, like the ones above. They are restoring these ruins and gradually turning them into completed pieces, but the process and the results cannot be photographed. The quality of the finished pieces was surprisingly excellent—it's a shame I can only describe them in words. In particular, there were finished works that even had color applied to them. Seeing that, the splendor of the Acropolis 2,000 years ago, when these sculptures were in their original state, suddenly flashes through my mind! This is exactly why I come to museums.

View of downtown Athens with hills and numerous buildings spreading beyond a tiled floor

The Acropolis and Parthenon on a hill seen beyond wet tiled roofs

Downtown Athens and a pointed hill with a white building on top under a cloudy sky — It must have rained outside. I read on a lot of blogs that the view from the Acropolis Museum is great, but unfortunately, it's cloudy today so it's not that pretty.

Ancient Greek marble relief depicting seated and standing people

Museum screen with an explanation that the sculpture was cut in two between 1801 and 1804 — The phrase "Removed to England," which you can easily see everywhere. British and French people probably shouldn't speak carelessly around here.

Screen displaying the restored relief along with an explanation that the scattered pieces were reassembled — I'm not really sure what the standard is for what can and cannot be photographed. Anyway, they are restoring the rest of the pieces onto the currently remaining parts using black-and-white photos taken 200 years ago. The restored parts are made with completely new clay, so there's a difference in color.

Symmetrical and ornate plant-patterned marble decoration exhibited against a large glass window — Only three pieces of the sculpture remain, but the overall shape is stunning. If the Parthenon and the Acropolis were full of things like this, it completely changes my perspective.

Ancient Greek relief stone slab depicting two figures shaking hands — The one on the right is Athena. It shows Athena making a pact with another god.

Miniature restoration model of various figures and horse statues exhibited in a glass showcase

Detailed view of the left part of the temple pediment sculpture restoration model

Detailed view of the right part of the temple pediment sculpture restoration model — A miniature version of the completed Parthenon pediment. Even though it's made small, it's long because so many gods are included.

Round stone sculpture carved with human figures — A sphere presumed to have been used in magic rituals. I thought it was a cannonball... but thinking about it more, gunpowder couldn't have been invented yet. -_-

Five Caryatid statues exhibited in the museum and people viewing them — The highlight of this museum: the Caryatid maidens from the Erechtheion temple in the Acropolis. There are identical ones at the Acropolis, but those are replicas and these are the real deal.

Ancient Greek pillar sculpture in the shape of a woman carrying a column capital on her head

Detailed view of the upper body and headdress of a Caryatid statue

The reason the Erechtheion Caryatids are important is that the Erechtheion temple is the most sacred place. In mythology, it was Athena who brought the olive trees that are spread across Greece, and they say the Erechtheion temple was built on the spot where Athena planted the very first olive tree.

Olive trees are incredibly important.
Athena, who gave them the olive tree, is important.
A temple was built where the olive tree was planted for that Athena. Therefore, this temple is important.
The six maiden statues supporting that temple are important.

Thinking about it this way, I could roughly guess why the maidens are so important. Four of the maiden statues in the museum were in good condition, and one was so severely damaged it was hard to tell what it was. And they say one is in the British Museum.

The Acropolis has so many stories, but the saddest ones are probably the story of the Turks storing gunpowder in the Parthenon which then blew up, and the story of Elgin sweeping up the artifacts and taking them to England. To briefly summarize, Lord Elgin (I guess from the British perspective, it's "Sir") got permission from the Ottoman Sultan and took everything to the British Museum. For us Koreans, it would be like an American getting permission from the Japanese Emperor to take our cultural heritage. I completely understand why they have signs written everywhere saying the British took them.

Visitors gathered around ancient Greek goddess pillar statues exhibited inside the museum

Circular structure and excavation site of ancient ruins visible beneath the museum floor — When you go outside, the foundations of the houses are preserved exactly as they were, and everyone was throwing coins into that hole. Is it human nature...

I came out early to take my time, but if you just skim through, you can see it quickly. The places where you can take pictures are pretty much set, so it's a place you can fully see in 2-3 hours. The best time to go seems to be after lunch, walking around the museum as a stroll. I'll say it again, but entry is not allowed from 3 PM. For Koreans who are used to places staying open until the sun goes down, these operating hours might be hard to understand, so please keep this in mind. More importantly, I highly recommend reading up a bit on Greek history beforehand for your own enjoyment. I went without doing that, and they just felt like fascinating rocks to me.

Expenses

Acropolis Museum €5
Dinner €15
Water €1

Total Expenses €21.0

Total Travel Expenses 525,936 KRW + 47,999 RUB + $639.96 + €568.07