Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens

The Byzantine and Christian Museum’s collection includes over 25,000 artifacts from the 3rd century AD to the Late Middle Ages, focusing on rare collections of pictures, scriptures, frescoes, pottery, fabrics, and manuscripts.

The Collection includes more than 350 copies of Byzantine and post-Byzantine frescoes, mosaics, icons, fabrics, and sculptures.

The Museum was founded in 1914 and is one of the important museums globally in Byzantine Art.

Byzantine Art

Byzantine art comprises of Christian art of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire.

It was later called the Byzantine Empire by historians and emerged from the decline of Rome and lasted until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453.

Many Eastern Orthodox states in Eastern Europe preserved many aspects of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine empire’s art for many centuries afterward.

After the fall of the Byzantine capital of Constantinople, artistic traditions derived from the Byzantine Empire, particularly regarding icon painting and church architecture, were maintained in several countries.

These countries included Greece, Cyprus, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, and other Eastern Orthodox countries to the present day.

Icons in the Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire in its eastern provinces when its capital city was in Constantinople (modern Istanbul).

During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe.

Historians distinguish Byzantium from ancient Rome because it was centered on Constantinople, oriented towards Greek culture, and Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

The fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 ended the Byzantine Empire.

Highlights of the Byzantine and Christian Museum

Icon of Saint Catherine, from Veria, 14th century
Icon of Saint Catherine, 17th century
Byzantine ceramic ware from the 9th through 13th century
Ancient Marble remains from Byzantine churches
Late Roman statuette of the various part of the ancient Byzantine Empire
Ancient Byzantine Icons
Byzantine Mosaic
Byzantine Artifacts
Illuminated Byzantium Psalms Manuscripts

Parts of the mosaic floor from Ilissos Basilica, 5th century – Byzantine and Christian Museum

Byzantine and Christian Museum

Name: Byzantine and Christian Museum
Greek: Βυζαντινό και Χριστιανικό Μουσείο
Established: 1914
City: Athens
Country: Greece
Location: Vassilissis Sofias Avenue, Athens, Greece

Byzantine icon of Nativity – Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens

Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens – Map

Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens – 360 Virtual Views

Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens

Explore Museums in Athens

Acropolis Museum
National Archaeological Museum
Benaki Museum
Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art
Byzantine and Christian Museum
Hellenic Motor Museum
National Historical Museum, Athens
Museum of the Ancient Agora
Syntagma Metro Station Archaeological Collection
Numismatic Museum of Athens
Athens War Museum
Jewish Museum of Greece
Athens University Museum

Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens

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“‘Since we cannot change reality, let us change the eyes which see reality,’ says one of my favorite Byzantine mystics.”
– Nikos Kazantzakis

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Photo Credit: JOM; G.dallorto / Attribution; Schuppi / CC BY-SA (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0); Ricardo André Frantz (User:Tetraktys) / CC BY-SA (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

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