Church of Panaghia Kapnikarea

This church is located right in the middle of a very busy shopping street (Ermou street) of downtown Athens. It is a Greek Othodox church and one of the oldest in Athens.

No posing in Greek museums

I encountered a strange rule in the Athens National Archaeological Museum (and other Greek museums like the one in Fira/Thira): no posing allowed in front of the statues or collection. You are not allowed to take photos of a statue or museum item while someone is also visible on the photo. This rule is enforced strictly and the guards will shoot “No Posing!” when they do not like it.
Before contemplating on the reasons for having such a rule, let me show you some illegal photos:
 
Zeus or Poseidon of Artemis

 
Greek philosophers (check out how the left statue is keeping an eye on things)
The reason for the “no posing” rule is not clear. Perhaps they want to stop tourists from imititating the statue’s pose.  Some people say that the statues are considered holy and therefore you should not take photos of them.

Athens Tower of the Winds

The Tower of the Winds is a clock tower on the Roman Agora in Athens.

The clock tower has eight sides. Each side contains a sundial.

Here you can see some of the sides.

Besides the sun dials, it also used to contain a water clock and a wind vane.

Athens National Archaeological Museum

The Athens National Archaeological Museum is the largest Museum of Greece and is devoted to ancient Greek art.

We show you some of the pieces we liked:

The Mask of Agamemnon

Vase with a sad octopus

A Dipylon amphora

A Kouros (this is a male youth, not a female!)

Kourio (multiple versions of a Kouros)

Boy jockey and horse

Boy Jockey and horse

Mask

Marble sculpture

Athens Modern Art

Do you know what this is?
Scroll down for the answer…



It is a photo of the new Acropolis Museum entrance…

 

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The New Acropolis Museum

The New Acropolis Museum is located near the Acropolis. After our visit to the Acropolis, this was our next stop. Photographing inside the museum is not allowed, so we are not able to show you photos of the maidens (or caryatids). The upside is that you can stand very close to them and admire them.

What we can show you is the very interesting entrance.

The museum is built right on top of an archeological site. The excavation can be seen through glass plates and from a balcony. The excavation below ground level continues.

When the excavation is done, visitors will be able to walk around on the lower levels of the museum.