Archaeological Museum of Aegina
   Photo: Archaeological Museum of Aegina

Aegina - a picturesque Greek island in the Saronic Gulf. This is one of the most famous and popular islands of Greece with well-developed tourist infrastructure and a number of interesting attractions.

Aegina Archaeological Museum is the oldest museum in Greece. It was founded in 1829 by the famous Greek historian and scholar Andreas Mustoksidisa with the assistance of the first president of Greece, Ioannis Kapodistrias. Initially, the Archaeological Museum housed in a neoclassical building in the center of Aegina (capital of the island). The modern museum building was built in 1980 in the outskirts of the capital on the territory of the archaeological site of "Column". The building is a single-storey brick building with a slate roof and atrium in the center, along the perimeter of which are covered with wooden porches. According to one of the outer sides of the building also has an indoor portico.

The museum's collection is vast and varied, and perfectly illustrates the history of the culture of the island of Aegina, ranging from prehistoric times until the early Christian period. Unique ancient artifacts have been collected from all over the island. The exhibition presents a variety of ceramics, sculptures and statues, architectural fragments, funerary steles, archaic inscriptions, weapons, coins and much more.

One of the most valuable exhibits is a marble statue of the Sphinx (5th century BC), found in 1903 in the colony. No less interesting and beautiful collection of ceramics in geometric style, fragments of sculptures from the Temple of Apollo, bronze vessels (1900-1800 BC.), A ceramic vessel depicting scenes from the Iliad (escape of Odysseus and his companions out of the cave of Cyclops) as well as the inscriptions of the temples of Apollo and Attai. Great interest is an accurate model of a house discovered during the excavations in the colonies and dating from the 3rd millennium BC. The complexity of the design is certainly evidence of a sufficiently high level of technology of the period.

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Archaeological Museum of Aegina