Visited the National Archaeological Museum & Scenic Tour of Athens, Greece

Author: Janice Vazquez | Last updated: October 30, 2023

Janice and Julius standing in front of a coffin in the National Archaeological Museum

On the 1st day of the 10-day Viking Greek Odyssey Cruise, I arrived in Athens, Greece. I booked the complimentary shore excursion, Panoramic Athens & Archaeological Museum, where we got a scenic tour of Athens via bus and viewed incredible exhibits at the National Archaeological Museum.

As I made our way to the first attraction, the tour guide gave a nice overview of Athens. According to the legend, Athens was named after Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and war, who became patron’s deity of the city after beating Poseidon in a contest. The two gods competed for who would get the honor of becoming the patron god of the city and offered gifts to the Athenians. Athena offered the olive tree, which symbolized peace and prosperity, while Poseidon offered a saltwater spring. The Athenians, led by King Cecrops I decided to take Athena’s gift, thus making her the patron goddess. The tour guide then dove into fun facts about Athens such as:

Athens is the largest city in Greece
Population is 5 million
The streets are lined with bitter and sour oranges that are primarily used for making jam

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Panathenaic Stadium

Our first stop of the tour was the Panathenaic Stadium, a multi-purpose stadium crafted from marble and has a seating capacity of 60,000. It served as the location for the first modern Olympic games in 1896 and remains the launching site for the Olympic flame torch relay. Presently, the stadium is used for a variety of purposes, including cultural events, musical performances, fashion shows, and sporting events.

Scenic Tour of Athens

On our way to the National Archaeological museum, the tour guide pointed out several historical points such as:

Harriet Truman Statue: The Harriet Truman statue is a bronze sculpture that stands 12 feet tall. The statue was donated by the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association to honor the Truman Doctrine, which gave $2 billion in economic and military aid to the Greek government to fight off communist guerrillas during the country’s civil war between 1946 and 1949.
Discus Thrower Statue: The Discus Thrower Statue is a bronze sculpture that was made in 1927 by Konstantinos Dimitriadis. The statue represents the harmony of body and movement of a young athlete.
Zappeion Mansion: The Zappeion Mansion is a large building that’s used as a public and private Conference and Exhibition Center. The Zappeion was used for numerous events, including the signing of documents formalizing Greece’s accession to the European Union on January 1st, 1981.
Hellenic Parliament: The Hellenic Parliament is an austere Neoclassical building that now houses the Parliament of Greece. Originally, it served as the Royal Palace for the Greek Kings.
Alexander the Great Statue: Alexander the Great Statue was made by the sculptor Giannis Pappas in 1993. The statue presents the great Greek warrior astride his beloved horse, Voukefalas.

The Runner Statue sits on a grassy hill — *The Runner Statue*

The Runner Statue is made of individual pieces of glass stacked atop each other to take the blurred shape of a runner in motion. Thousands of sharp, jagged pieces of glass form the sculpture.

The running figure is the work of Costas Varotsos, who began working on it in 1988 and didn’t finish until 1994. It was originally erected at Omonia Square, but it was later moved because people grew concerned construction and the vibrations from the underground metro would cause it to shatter or topple.

It’s a fitting sculpture within a city with so much running history—Athens was, after all, the final destination of Pheidippides’s famous run from the Battle of Marathon.

National Archaeological Museum

Our second stop was the National Archaeological Museum. However, we encountered a slight delay to go into the museum due to a high school field trip that was in line ahead of us. Once we finally entered the museum, our tour guide kindly allowed everyone to use the restroom before commencing the guided tour. Given that we had allotted 90 minutes for our museum visit, my brother and I were concerned that we might not have sufficient time to see everything. To make the most of our visit, we decided to forego the restroom break instead explore the museum independently.

We enjoyed learning about ancient Greek culture, spanning from prehistory to late antiquity. The museum’s vast collection was segmented into five major permanent exhibitions, including The Collection of Prehistoric Antiquities.

An image of Bronze manual with pressed decoration made of gold and silver — *Bronze Manual with Pressed Decoration made of Gold and Silver*

We also enjoyed the Sculpture Collection

An image of a naiskos, which is a small temple — *Naiskos (Small Temple)*

An image of a bronze statue called Artemision — *Artemision Bronze*

An image of a marble statue of a Kouros — *Marble Statue of a Kouros*

An image of a bronze statue of a horse and a young jockey — *Bronze Statue of a Horse and a Young Jockey*

An image of a marble statue of the Diadem Wearer — *Marble Statue* *of The Diadem Wearer*

An image of a marble statue of the Atlante Hermes — *Marble Statue* *of The Atlante Hermes*

The Vase and Minerals Collection, and The Metallurgical Works Collection, and Greece Collection of Egyptian and Eastern Antiquities. Among these, I found The Sculpture Collection to be my favorite. The exhibit allowed me to witness the evolution of ancient Greek sculpture, spanning from the 7th century BC to the 5th century AD.

An image of a marble head of a colossal statue of Zeus — *Marble Head of a Colossal Statue of Zeus*

Despite not being accompanied by our original tour guide, I was still able to benefit from another guide’s insights on the sculptures. I simply switched my QVC number to the corresponding channel that aligned with the other tour. After the museum, we boarded the bus and proceeded to the last stop of the day.

View of Acropolis and Parthenon

The bus dropped us off on the side street, allowing us the opportunity to capture a photograph of the Acropolis and Parthenon. We proceeded to traverse a broad pathway leading towards the Acropolis, where the majestic sight of the Parthenon atop the hill left us in awe.