The Acropolis presented its annual report (June 2025\u2013June 2026).<\/p>\n
Since its opening in 2009, it has consistently ranked among the 100 most-visited museums in the world, according to the list published annually by the British newspaper The Art Newspaper, <\/b>The Acropolis Museum, which in 2025 ranked 38th with 1,994,052 visitors<\/b>, has published its annual report again this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs reported in various publications, the Acropolis Museum is the only Greek institution on the list of the 100 most-visited museums and one of the very few museums in Southeast Europe.<\/b> In addition to the fact that the Museum is an educational and tourist destination<\/b> in its own right, the efforts made through the organization of exhibitions and events contribute significantly to attracting new visitors<\/b>, something that was particularly evident in the exhibition “Allspice | Michael Rakowitz & Ancient Cultures,” which drew 35,224 visitors between May 13, 2025, and October 31, 2025,” states the Museum\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n
In fact, it is worth noting that, in addition to visitors who enter the Museum\u2019s exhibition spaces and purchase tickets, every year approximately 20,000 additional visitors attended special events at the \u201cDimitrios Pandermalis\u201d amphitheater, musical events on the ground floor, as well as in the Museum\u2019s courtyard.<\/b><\/p>\nHow Visitor Numbers Are Shaped<\/b><\/h3>\n
Specifically, over the past two years, the Museum\u2019s visitor numbers have been as follows: First Half of 2024\u20141,010,504 visitors, Second Half of 2024\u2014989,808 visitors, First Half of 2025\u2014963,707 visitors, Second Half of 2025\u20141,030,345 visitors, First Half of 2026 (through June 17, 2026)\u2014871,955 visitors.<\/p>\n
In its annual report, the Acropolis Museum provides a detailed account of its periodic exhibitions, events, original thematic presentations, programs for specific audience groups, educational activities for schools and families, seminars for educators, conferences, the cataloging of archaeological collections, as well as the conservation of exhibits, all of which took place over the past year.<\/p>\n
It also discusses ongoing initiatives, such as the exhibition titled \u201cInspiration: Ancient Greek Art in Italy,\u201d<\/b> which the Acropolis Museum is presenting through August 30, 2026. A unique and inspiring exhibition\u2014a gift and collaboration between Italy and Greece\u2014with free admission for visitors, as well as the work by Michael Rakowitz, \u201cLamassu of Nineveh\u201d <\/b>(2018), curated by Nikos Stampolidis and NEON director Elina Kountouri, which will be on view until October 31, 2026, in the Museum\u2019s outdoor area on its west side facing Mitsaion Street, with free admission for visitors.<\/p>\n
In its annual report, the Acropolis Museum makes special mention of the re-exhibition of artifacts<\/b>. As noted in its announcement, as part of the Museum\u2019s ongoing efforts to enrich and renew its permanent exhibition, the following is being displayed to the public for the first time, on the north side of the first floor (from the 5th century BCE to Late Antiquity), the Archaic statue base Ac. 610, featuring relief depictions of four gods: Athena, Zeus, Hermes, and Hephaestus. The base was discovered in 1857 to the east of the Parthenon, and its iconography is linked to the myth of Athena\u2019s birth. It enriches the Museum\u2019s permanent exhibition with an original work from the 4th century B.C.<\/p>\n
In addition, the Museum\u2019s Sculpture Conservation Laboratory<\/b> has begun conservation and re-mounting work on the Horseman (Acroterion 700), with the aim of re-displaying it on its original ancient base.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, this year, 772 fragments of sculptures from the Acropolis were transferred from the old Acropolis Museum on the rock to the Acropolis Museum, 772 sculpture fragments from the Acropolis, which are gradually being added to the Museum\u2019s collections.<\/b> The fragments were organized in the archaeological storage facilities and entered into the Museum\u2019s database. The project was carried out by the Acropolis Museum\u2019s Departments of Antiquities Collections and Conservation & Casts, in collaboration with the Ephorate of Antiquities of the City of Athens.<\/p>\n
Of particular interest, of course, are the issues concerning the reunification of the Parthenon\u2019s architectural sculptures. Indeed, as the announcement states, as part of the ongoing effort to highlight issues related to the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures, the Director General of the Acropolis Museum, Prof. Nikolaos Chr. Stampolidis<\/b>participated on May 21\u201322, 2026, in the 25th Session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee on the Return of Cultural Property to the Countries of Origin (ICPRCP), where the issue of the permanent return and reunification of the <\/b>Parthenon Sculptures. Together with the members of the Greek delegation, she presented a detailed history of the case, Greece\u2019s positions on the issue of the Parthenon Sculptures, and emphatically stressed the just demand for their return and reunification at the Acropolis Museum.<\/p>\nParthenon Sculptures<\/h3>\n
The argument, as stated in the press release, focused on the fact that the sculptures were acquired illegally by Lord Elgin before ending up in the British Museum, <\/b>in the absence of a firman and relevant sultanate documents, on the devastating consequences for their preservation caused by both their violent removal and subsequent ill-advised interventions, as well as the lack of respect in the way the British Museum treats Phidias\u2019s masterpieces even today. Also significant was the presentation of videotaped speeches by British figures from the political, academic, and artistic circles, presenting strong arguments for the return and reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures at the Acropolis Museum.<\/p>\n
At the Acropolis Museum itself, as already mentioned, the small but substantial exhibition \u201cThe Parthenon and Byron\u201d<\/b>, which continues in the ground-floor foyer, highlights the absence of a firman and related sultanical documents, as well as Lord Elgin\u2019s illegal appropriation of the sculptures, before they ended up in the British Museum.<\/p>\n
Finally, over the past year, the Acropolis Museum launched a comprehensive program of study, documentation, design-based restoration, conservation, and reassembly of fragments belonging to the Parthenon frieze from the Museum\u2019s storage facilities.<\/b> The goal of the program is to achieve the most complete restoration of the monument using whatever fragments can be documented and restored to their original positions on the frieze. The project is being carried out in collaboration with the Department of Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman Antiquities and the Department of Conservation and Casts. To date, the Department of Conservation and Casts has conserved and reinstalled 13 new fragments on the frieze: 10 fragments on the South Frieze (on blocks 22, 24, 33, 34, 37, 42, and 46) and 3 fragments in the North Frieze (on blocks 14, 17, and 18), and the work continues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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