The Real Wealth of Athens

The auditorium of the Archeological Society at Athens, founded in 1837

In these troubled times it is easy to forget what Greece has given to the world. The cradle of Western civilisation, Ancient Greece has provided us with much of what we know of today as democracy, philosphy, tragedy, comedy, poetry, mathematics, and, of course, the Olympic Games.

Many institutions have emerged in Athens over the last couple of hundred years to research, preserve and display the culture of Greece from Ancient times until more recently. This series documents some of those institutions: libraries, schools, museums and foundations which are part of the culture that protects the culture of Greece.

Filippos Tsimpoglou Ph.D., Director General of the National Library of Greece

The National Library of Greece, founded in 1832

Waiting outside a reading room at the National Library of Greece

The National Archeolgical Museum of Athens, founded in 1829

The National Archeolgical Museum of Athens, founded in 1829

Aphrodite Panagiotakou, Vice-Director of the Onassis Cultural Center in the Hellenic Library

Cieling of the Numismatic Museum, which houses one of the largest collections of coins, ancient and modern, in the world. Founded in 1838

Professor Catherine A. Morgan O.B.E., Director of the British School at Athens. Founded in 1866, the School promotes research of international excellence in all disciplines pertaining to Greek lands, from fine art to archaeometry and in all periods to modern times.

The Fitch Laboratory at the British School at Athens, where scientific techniques are used to analyse materials from animal bones to ancient pottery. Analysis of such materials gives usefull insight into where things were made, how they were made, where things travelled from and so on.

The Fitch Laboratory reference collection of animal bones, hosting modern skeletons of a large number of species, facilitates the visual characterization of the often fragmented bones recovered from excavations

The Benaki Museum, founded in 1930. Includes Greek art from all periods.

Mosaic at the Benaki Museum

Receptionist at the Onassis Foundation

The Library at the Archeological Society at Athens, founded in 1837

The Library at the Archeological Society at Athens, founded in 1837

Meeting room at the Archeological Society at Athens

Staircase at the Archeological Society at Athens