Mycenaean gold, sea-found bronzes and the Antikythera wreck
Greek antiquities from the Neolithic to the Roman period: Mycenaean gold, Cycladic marbles, sculpture in marble and bronze, and the finds from the Antikythera shipwreck on the ground floor, with the Akrotiri wall paintings and the vases upstairs.
In Room 15 on the ground floor, among the early Classical sculpture. The jockey and horse recovered from the same wreck off Cape Artemision stand further on, in Room 34.
In Room 38, with the other finds from the Antikythera shipwreck, in the metalwork galleries in the north-east corner of the ground floor. The museum calls it the most significant scientific instrument of antiquity.
About three hours covers the ground floor and the Akrotiri room upstairs. The vases alone fill fifteen rooms on the first floor, so leave them for a second visit if time is short.
No. The sculpture Athens kept from the Parthenon is in the Acropolis Museum, south of the Acropolis. The National Archaeological Museum holds sculpture from the rest of Greece and from Attica's cemeteries and sanctuaries.
One building holds the gold of Mycenae, the bronze god lifted from the sea off Cape Artemision and the gears of the Antikythera mechanism, nearly all of it on one floor.
This is Greece's national collection of antiquities, from Neolithic pots to Roman portraits, gathered from every part of the country. The famous pieces are the Mycenaean gold, the marble sculpture and a handful of bronzes that survived because they sank.
From the Neolithic to late Rome
For the Parthenon itself, go to the Acropolis Museum, a short metro ride south.
The ground floor holds almost everything famous. The prehistoric collections come first: the Mycenaean gold in Room 4, then the Neolithic finds and the Cycladic marbles in the rooms beside it.
The sculpture runs on from there in date order, from the stiff early kouroi to Roman portraits. The metalwork galleries fill the north-east corner, with the Antikythera mechanism among the shipwreck finds in Room 38, and Egypt has two rooms of its own.
The first floor is quieter and full of cases. The Akrotiri wall paintings from Santorini have a room to themselves, and the vases fill fifteen more, with the jewellery, the glass and Cyprus after them.
In winter, from mid-November to early May, the museum closes at 3.30pm from Wednesday to Monday, so give it a morning, not an afternoon. Tuesday opens only at 1pm and stays open until 8pm all year.
Start with the Mycenaean gold in Room 4, then walk the sculpture in date order. Leave the first floor for the end of the visit.
Two of the bronzes the sea gave back, each with its room, why it matters and how to see it well.
A bronze god, Zeus with a thunderbolt or Poseidon with a trident, lifted from the seabed off Cape Artemision after divers found the wreck in 1926. Most ancient bronzes were melted down for their metal, so a full-size original like this is rare. Stand to one side to see the arms in one line, from the outstretched left hand to the throwing right.
Sponge divers found this young man in 1900 in the Antikythera shipwreck, the same wreck that gave up the mechanism, and he was the first of the great bronzes recovered from Greek waters in the twentieth century. He shares a room with the bronze boy from the sea off Marathon, so see the two side by side.
Temporary exhibitions change every few months: see the current exhibitions on namuseum.gr.
More of ancient Athens
The Parthenon and the Erechtheion on their rock, the buildings much of this sculpture was made to stand beside.
The Parthenon frieze Athens kept and the original Erechtheion maidens, in a glass building below the Acropolis.
The sanctuary on the cape where the great kouros in this museum's early sculpture rooms was dedicated, a day trip down the coast.
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