Located on Vassilissis Sophias Avenue near the Evangelismos metro station, the Byzantine and Christian Museum is rightly considered one of the best museums in Athens, the capital of Greece, and has the status of "national museum". The museum was founded in 1914 and its collection is based on a unique collection of artefacts belonging to the Christian Archaeological Society. For a very long time the collection was kept in the storerooms of the National Archaeological Museum and only in 1924 it was presented to the public for the first time in specially designated exhibition rooms at the Academy of Athens.
In 1930, after restoration under the direction of Aristotelis Zachos, the new home of the museum was Villa Illysia, the former winter residence of the Duchess of Piacenza Sophie de Marbois-Lebrun on Vasilissis Sophias Avenue, built in 1848 by the famous Greek architect Kleanthis Stamatis. A number of global transformations to expand the exhibition space were carried out in the late 20th and early 21st century, including the construction of three underground floors, but in general Villa Illysia has retained its original appearance and is an important architectural monument.
The museum's impressive collection of more than 25,000 objects of Byzantine and Christian art collected from different parts of Greece and covers a huge period of time - from the 3rd century AD to the 20th century. The museum collection includes Byzantine and post-Byzantine icons, ceramic, metal and silverware, sculpture, mosaics, wall paintings, manuscripts, incunabula, bronze engravings, coins and much more. Among the most interesting exhibits of the museum are an icon of Archangel Michael (14th century), an icon of St Catherine (Veria, 14th century), an iconostasis from Euretania (17th century), a double-sided icon of St George from Kastoria, a bas-relief depicting John the Baptist (Zakynthos, 17th century), a marble templon (altarpiece), and Roman statuettes of Orpheus (Aegina, 4th century) and the Good Shepherd (Corinth, 4th century).
In addition to the permanent exhibition, the Byzantine and Christian Museum regularly hosts special exhibitions, as well as thematic lectures, seminars and general education programmes, including for schoolchildren.
