Athanasakeion Archaeological Museum of Volos: Building an intimate relationship with the visitor

Alexios Athanasakis, who provided the funds for the construction of the museum, the archaeologist Apostolos S. Arvanitopoulos, a controversial and passionate character who excavated key sites in Thessaly, and Professor Giorgos Ch. Chourmouziadis, who adopted a pioneering approach to museological design, linking the ancient objects with the history of mankind.

But let’s take things from the top: The elegant neoclassical building we see today was inaugurated in 1909 to house the painted funerary stelae discovered by Apostolos Arvanitopoulos in ancient Demetrias, a wonderful example of Hellenistic painting. Since then, seven more halls have been added to the museum, containing finds representing the entire spectrum of Thessalian excavations, from the Neolithic period to the Roman period.

The Neolithic settlements perhaps attract the most attention, not only because of the abundance of objects, but also due to the fact that nothing is confined in display cases. Ch. Chourmouziadis, who designed the exhibition between 1975 and 1976, placed the exhibits on perches or shelves made of materials similar to those used in the Neolithic period (wood, reed, stone, flax), with no barrier separating the visitor from the object. In this extremely simple way, the public developed a certain familiarity with the exhibition, aiming at promoting education and elevating aesthetic standards, which the museum maintains to this day.