Thessaloniki Byzantine Museum

Location: Egnatia
Don't miss: Museums guide (free admission dates and other useful info)

The Byzantine Museum of Thessaloniki, Macedonia: The Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki is located in Stratou Ave, just opposite the park of Pedion Areos in the centre of the town. Its rooms host interesting permanent exhibitions, one exhibition in each room.

The first exhibition is about the architecture and decoration of a church in the paleochristian times, that is the first centuries of Christianism. The second exhibition is about the structure of a Paleochristian town and house and the third exhibition presents the cemeteries in paleochristian times, with paintings, vessels and jewerly found in such excavations. The next room deals with issues like monkhood, iconoclasm, the life of Saints Cyril and Methodius.

The next two rooms are dedicated to the Byzantine Emperors and daily life in a Byzantine castle, while there are also collections with rare icons, ecclesiastical heirlooms and valuable crosses. The first decision for the foundation of this museum was taken in 1913, only after one year from the liberation of Thessaloniki from the Turks.

However, the decision was not implemented and the exhibits were transfered to the Christian and Byzantine Museum in Athens, until 1994, when the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki was inaugurated. Till 2004, all 11 rooms of the museum had been completed. A year later, it was awarded the Council of Europe Museum Prize 2005. It frequently organizes temporary exhibitions and educational programs.