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”Μyrtis: Face to face with the past”

Lost for 2500 years, Myrtis reappears in a Temporary Exhibition at the National Archaeological Museum, Athens
September 13 – November 30, 2010

The Temporary Exhibition “Μyrtis: Face to face with the past” opened at the National Archaeological Museum, Athens on Monday, September 13, at 19:30.  If you’ve seen the photo exhibit at the airport, then visiting Myrtis “live” and “in person” seems like the logical next step.  NAM gives you the chance to come face to face with this 11 year old Athenian girl who was –along with Perikles- one of the tens of thousands victims of typhoid fever in the year 430 BC, the second year of the Peloponnesian war between Athens and Sparta and their allies.

According to the museum’s curators:

We feel that the National Archaeological Museum, Athens is the ideal setting par excellence to display Myrtis. Her reception within the walls of our institution, where so many burial sculptures and funerary reliefs are held, recalls the ancient ritual practice of Dexiosis, whereby the right hand is extended in a gesture of farewell to the dead. The encounter of Myrtis with the youths and maidens on burial stelai at the Museum -Dikaios, Nikocharis, Aristille or Mnesagora- is metaphysical. Through the face of little Myrtis, sepulchral monuments and memorials of the 5th century BC, both eponymous or anonymous, come back to life and talk with us. They remind us of the common human fate, death, but also of its defeat by means of memory. It is no coincidence that Myrtis was declared “Friend of the Goals of the Millenium” by the United Nations Organization.

Opening hours: Monday: 13:30-20:00
Tuesday-Sunday: 08:00-20:00

The National Archaeological Museum is closed on 25 – 26 December, 1 January, 25 March, Orthodox Easter Sunday and 1 May.

Admission fee: 7 euros
Reduced fee: 3 euros for E.U. senior citizens (over 65 years old), students from countries outside the E.U.

Free entrance:
visitors under 19 years old,
students from E.U. countries,
admission card holders (Free Entrance Card, Culture Card, ICOM, ICOMOS)
journalists, guides, soldiers.

  • Entrance is free to all visitors on the following days:
    March 6 (Memory of Melina Mercouri) 
    April 18 (International Monument Day) 
    May 18 (International Museum Day) 
    June 5  (World Environment Day) 
    the last weekend of September (European Days of Cultural Heritage)
    September 27  (International Tourism Day) 
    Sundays in the period between  November 1 and March 31
    Greek official holidays during which the Museum is open: January 6, Orthodox Good Friday (12:00 – 17:00), Orthodox Easter Saturday and Monday, Orthodox Monday of the Holy Spirit, August 15, October 28.
    the first Sunday of April, May, June, September and October (in case this is an official holiday, it is the second Sunday of that month).

The National Archaeological Museum is closed on December 25 – 26, January 1, March 25, Orthodox Easter Sunday and May 1.

Entrance is free on the days celebrating Open Days and the European Spring of the Museums, ccording to the dates set each year.

Galleries begin closing 20 minutes before the museum closes. Essential work may necessitate closing galleries without previous notice.

By Athensguide

How does a little girl from Skokie, Illinois find herself in historical Athens, leading curious explorers through the winding streets of Plaka, down "pezodromos" to hidden ouzeries for tempting mezedhes and homemade barrel wine? The journey began more than twenty years ago, and regardless of whether the wanderlust comes from the spiritual and culture DNA flowing through my veins, or the alignment of the stars on that cold mid-December day this Sagitterian came into the world, I never seem to tire of exploring my adopted homeland of Greece. Here you'll join me as I explore Athens: be it the back streets of Psirri and Gazi, or through the National Gardens and Zappeio where a family of turtles makes their home, or down wide, treelined Imittou Street in Pagrati, which pulses with Athenian life 24 hours a day. And while Athens has stolen my heart, the rest of Greece vies for my curiousity and wanderlust. My two guys (that'd be the Greek God, Vasilis and our Greek dog, Scruffy) and I can often be found settling in for a long weekend in some charming mountain village, or a quaint fishing port on a nearby island, or learning how Greek vitners are producing wines that rival some of Napa Valley's finests productions, or celebrating a panayeri in Epirus or sharing in the festivities as a family of Cretan sheepherders come together to sheer their 1500 sheep in the spring ... And if you happen to find yourself heading to Athens, consider finding yourself a real home for your stay. Living amongst the locals, be it for 3 nights or 3 weeks, will offer you the chance to experience true Athens, beyond the Acropolis. Choose from one of our 5 beautiful penthouse and historical homes, and who knows, I may be leading you down that winding "pezodromo" to our favorite hidden ouzerie!