Acropolis Museum Marks 9th Year with Birthday Event

Voted 8th among the top museums in the world in the 2017 Travelers’ Choice Awards for Museums, the Acropolis Museum in Athens welcomed over 1.6 million visitors in the past year alone, said Dimitris Pantermalis, director of the museum, on occasion of its ninth birthday celebration on Wednesday.

“The number of visitors increased significantly last year,” said Pantermalis, adding that the number of English-language callers had increased, followed by the French, with the Chinese also on the rise.

The museum’s director went on to announce two events that will mark the museum’s 10-year anniversary in 2019: the opening of an excavation site on its premises where visitors will have the chance to tour the ruins of an ancient Athenian neighborhood along an ancient road with stops at the most important structures and finds, including homes, bathhouses and workshops dating back to the 5th century BC; as well as the launch of the museum’s 1.7-million-euro digital project to include 24 digital apps in Greek and English, and a management and back-office application with training capabilities for the staff.

The celebrations this year included a jazz music concert in the museum’s courtyard, a free tour of the “Eleusis: The Great Mysteries” show and other events of cultural interest.

In related news, the first Acropolis Museum built in 1865 on the southeastern edge of the hill, will get a new lease on life with renovation works set to begin in September and run over a four-year period.