Athens Folk Instruments museum

Location: Plaka

The museum is dedicated to the Greek folklore music and it has an amazing collection of about 1,200 Greek popular musical instruments dating from the 18th century, making it one of the most significant museums of folklore music in Europe. The mansion in which it is housed is located in Plaka and was built in 1842.

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The exhibition occupies three floors and includes four categories of musical instruments; percussion, aerophones, strings, and idiophones. Instruments have descriptions both in Greek and English and visitors can listen to their sound and music range through recorded audios. Some of the exhibited instruments are toumberlekia (pottery drums), daoulia (drums), defia (tambourines), laghouta (long-necked lutes) as well as outia (short-necked lutes).

In the main building you can find the ethnomusicologist library with important audiovisual material and next to it, at the outer building, there is the Research Centre for Ethnomusicology, museum shop and a venue that is ideal for seminars and other educational programs.

The main corpus of the exhibits was ownership of by Mr. Anogianakis who gifted its collection to the Greek state.
The museum is opened on Tuesday - Thursday - Friday - Saturday - Sunday from 10 am to 2 pm and on Wednesdays from 10 am to 6 pm. Telephone: 210 3250198

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How to get there

There are many ways to reach the Museum of Folk Instruments, from any location in Athens.

Private transfers: We recommend using an online pre-booked Athens transfer service, which provides transfer by taxi, minibus or private VIP car and arranging a pickup directly from the port, airport or your hotel. Alternatively, there’s the option of arranging a pickup by a local driver directly at the following numbers: 0030 693 881 8288, 0030 694 597 2090, 0030 690 943 9292 or book your taxi online.

On foot: As the Museum of Folk Instruments is located in a central area of Athens, it can be easily reached on foot from Syntagma metro station, in approximately 10 minutes.

By metro: The closest metro station is “Monastiraki” on lines 1 and 3. Note that the Museum of Folk Instruments is located within a 5-minute walking distance from the metro. Get a map of the metro here.

By bus/trolleybus: The closest bus stop is “Monastiraki”. Note that the Museum of Folk Instruments is located within a 5-minute walking distance from the bus stop. Check the routes and the official timetables on OASA Telematics.

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