Museum of Byzantine Culture

The Museum of Byzantine Culture, one of the most modern museums in Greece, offers a complete picture of Byzantine culture through its original exhibitions and diverse activity. Its purpose is the collection, protection, study and promotion of works of art and objects, which chronologically cover the early Christian, Byzantine and post-Byzantine period. The works that are kept and displayed on its premises come from the geographical area of ​​Macedonia and especially from Thessaloniki, the most important center in the European part of the Byzantine Empire after Constantinople.

The museum’s collections include sculptures, mosaics, murals, icons, coins, inscriptions, ceramics, manuscripts, handicrafts and glassware. This material comes from excavations in Thessaloniki and other areas of Macedonia, from markets, donations and traditions of antiquities, as well as from the return of the antiquities of Macedonia, which were transferred in 1916, after the liberation of Thessaloniki, to the Byzantine and Christian Museum Athens, where they were kept until the 1990s.The museum has also donated two large private collections, of Dori Papastratou, which consists of Orthodox religious engravings, and of Dimitrios Economopoulos, which includes mainly icons but also ceramics, coins and small works of art. Today, the museum’s collections continue to be enriched with purchases of objects, made by the Ministry of Culture or by donations from individuals and institutions. The museum is housed in one of the most important buildings of modern public architecture in Greece, work of the architect Kyriakos Krokos, while it also includes the monument-logo of Thessaloniki, the White Tower.Its permanent exhibition is developed in eleven rooms, which correspond to an equal number of independent exhibition sections. They all cover different aspects and periods of Byzantine culture and are organized according to modern museological conceptions, so that each object is not treated as an independent work of art, but integrated into a set of objects to illustrate aspects of the society that created it.The first 3 rooms are dedicated to the early Christian era (4th-7th century). The next 3 in the mid-Byzantine (8th-12th), the seventh in the late Byzantine (13th-1453), the 8th and 9th in the collections of Papastratos and Economopoulos respectively, the 10th in the post-Byzantine era (1453-19th century) and the 11th in the process from the discovery of the ancient object to its exhibition in the museum.

The museum has specialized and fully equipped workshops for the preservation of wooden images, ceramics, glass, bone, metal, paper, mural, mosaic, stone and marble. Its warehouses are spacious and functional, shaped according to modern international standards, while there is a special reception area for excavation findings.The storage and laboratory spaces are housed in the basement and on the first level of the building and occupy an area of ​​about 5,000 square meters, almost twice that of the exhibition. The museum also has an amphitheater, space for periodical exhibitions and other activities and a shop.

Administrative Information:

Official Unit:
Museum of Byzantine Culture
2 Stratou Avenue, Τ.Κ. 54013, Thessaloniki (Prefecture of Thessaloniki)
Telephone: +30 2313 306400
Fax: +30 2313 306402
Email: mbp@culture.gr

Tickets:
Full: €8, Reduced: €4

Open:
Monday – Sunday 09.00-16.00

Amenities for the physically challenged:
The Museum is accessible for people with dissabilities.
Moreover, For the blind people and people with limited vision we have a leaflet in Braille script (Greek-English), a special shaped outdoor exhibition with marmor artifacts and a program of audio-haptic guided tour through the Museum’s permanent exhibition titled “Touch and be acquainted with Byzantium” in three languages (English, German, Russian) and in Greek. Moreover we provide a special brochure for the escort. All these are free of charge by the use of entrance ticket.

Access:
With a city bus
From the east towards the centre of the city
Lines 7, 10, 11, 12, 31, 58
Bus stop “Stratigio” – Museum of Byzantine Culture
Line 8
Bus stop Museum of Byzantine Culture
Lines 3, 5, 6, 33, 39, 78
Bus stop City Hall

From the centre of the city towards the Museum
Lines 3, 10, 11, 12, 31, 39
Bus stop “Stratigio” – Museum of Byzantine Culture
Line 3
Bus stop Museum of Byzantine Culture

Source: www.odysseus.culture.gr
Museum of Byzantine Culture