The New Acropolis Museum

This special tribute takes you on a unique journey beneath the New Acropolis Museum, where history and modern architecture converge in a breathtaking display of Athens’ ancient past. As part of the museum’s latest exhibition, Stories of Daily Life in the Neighborhood of Ancient Athens, I had the opportunity to capture the perspective of visitors as they walk through the ancient ruins that lie beneath the museum. These images reflect the awe-inspiring experience of standing on glass floors, peering down at the remnants of an ancient civilization, and feeling connected to the history that has shaped modern Athens.

The cover of Greece is Athens, Summer 2024, featuring my photography as a central design element. It’s an honor to see my work not only displayed within the context of this exhibition but also used as a key element in the creative design of the magazine’s cover. I hope these images inspire you to explore the rich history that lies just beneath the surface of Athens, where the past continues to shape our present.

“Here in the capital of Greece Athens, our museum experiences just seem to get better and better. In late June, the Acropolis Museum inaugurated an entire new exhibition level, this time beneath the main museum, in association with its already-open archaeological site. Together, the fascinating cityscape of an exposed ancient neighborhood and the rich array of ordinary household objects, workshop remnants, commercial goods and stunning statuary displayed along- side it comprise an impressive addition to an institution already well deserving of its world-class standing. What we have here is essentially a completely new museum beneath the existing exhibition galleries. And once again, the Acropolis Museum new sub-floor spaces, like those above, are experiential for the visitor. Just as we “ascend the Acropolis” when we make our way upwards through the Acropolis Museum’s Acropolis Slopes and Archaic Galleries, ultimately reaching the Parthenon’s sculptural decorations at the top, so today can we “descend below ground” as we explore the archaeological excavation dug into the earth below the museum, with its stone walls, narrow streets, bath complexes, courtyards and collection of historical treasures that, now more than ever before, bring daily life in ancient Athens into sharp focus.”

Words by editor John Leonard
Cover creative design by Dimitris Tsoublekas
GREECE IS Athens summer issue 2024 bublished by Kathimerini news.