National Museum [antikvár]

History of the MuseumThe National Archaeological Museum celebrates its first centenary in the course ot this year (1974). As a result of a generous donation made by Demetrios B ernardakis the construction of the building was begun in 1866 on a plot of land presented by Helen Tositsa. The plans were drawn up by the architect Ludwig Lange. In 1874 the Greek state provided financial aid for the completion of the west wing to which the exhibits, until then housed in the Theseum, the Varvakeion and the Stoa of Hadrian, were removed. All the various collections belonged officially to the Central Archaeological Museum, which was founded by a royal decree of 13th November 1834 and whose headquarters were situated in the Theseum. The original name was officially preserved until 1888, when, by a royal decree of 19th April, it was changed to the National Archaeological Museum. Construction work continued and was finally completed in 1889. Lange's original design for the main façade, east wing and central hall was modified by the well-known architect, Ernst Ziller. The capital was thus embellished by another fine neo-Classical building and the country acquired its first large imposing museum. Various antiquities scattered about in different buildings in Athens were removed to the museum in 189.1. Panayiotis Kavvadias, then general superintendent of Antiquities, placed the sculptures in the new halls and drafted the first catalogue. Christos Tsountas, the eminent Greek archaeologist, assembled the magnificent Mycenaean collection consisting of Schliemann's finds from the acropolis of Mycenae which he had recently excavated, and compiled the valuable index. The need to expand became imperative by 1925, and the construction of a new wing was begun. The new halls were completed in 1939. At the beginning of the Second World War, however, it was found necessary to close the museum, and bury the antiquities under ground in order to protect them from possible damage or destruction.As soon as the war was over the prolonged and laborious task of uncovering the buried objects began. It was not only a case of cleaning and restoring them. The halls in which they were to be displayed were themselves in need of restoration. The fact that an initial temporary exhibition should have been organised in three halls of the Museum as eariy as 1946 was a remarkable