The building was constructed in 1836 by the Bavarian engineer Von
Weiler. For a long period it was used as a military hospital and later, as the
Gendarmes' Barracks. In 1978 it was offered to the Ministry of Culture and in
1985-87 was repaired in order to serve all its present functions. The museum organizes
educational programmes for students of primary and secondary schools, but also
houses congresses and other activities in the lecture hall, as well as temporary
exhibitions. Workshops and storerooms for the casts are installed on the basement
of the building.
The collections of the museum include:
•Collection of casts of the Pathenon sculptures (ground floor)
•Exhibits concerning the Erechtheion (ground floor)
•The exhibition "Acropolis Conservation, Restoration and Research" (first
floor)
•Exhibition of clay-tiled roofs of the Acropolis monuments (first floor)
The most important exhibits of the museum are: •Casts of pedimental sculptures from the Parthenon. Sculptures of
the west pediment, representing the competition between Athena and Poseidon. •Casts of pedimental sculptures from the Parthenon. Sculptures of
the east pediment, representing the Birth of Athena. •Casts of the metopes of the Parthenon representing Amazonomachy,
Gigantomachy, Centauromachy and scenes from the Trojan War. •Casts of the Parthenon frieze. The reliefs represent the Panathenaic
Procession, the most formal religious festival of Athens. •Terracotta horse head. Two fragments of a terracotta horse head,
hollow inside. It was probably part of an acroterion or a votive complex. Inv.
no. 4923a-b. •Terracotta female statue. Clay statue of a seated female deity, probably
the corner acroterion of a temple. The lower part of the body is preserved, from
the level of the thighs, with the left foot intact, on a thin, square plinth.
Inv. no. 30. •Model of the Acropolis, representing the hill of the Classical period. •Drawings and photographs concerning the restoration of the fifth
column on the south side of the Parthenon. •Painted representation. The facade of the Paropylaia is shown as
it was in the Classical period.
