Archaeological Museum of Volos

One of Greece’s oldest museums, the Athanasakeio Archaeological Museum of Volos occupies a neoclassical building from 1909 on Athanasaki Street by the seafront and the Anavros district, a short way from the port. It exists thanks to the merchant Alexios Athanassakis, who left money and a collection to found a museum for the finds of Thessaly, and it carries his name. The building, set within a garden, is a reminder of the prosperous port of the early twentieth century, before Volos was largely rebuilt after the earthquakes of 1955.

The museum's strength lies in prehistory. The Volos area was among the earliest farming regions of Europe, and the Neolithic settlements of Sesklo and Dimini, a short distance from the city, have given their names to whole cultural phases. Galleries display pottery decorated with spirals and geometric patterns, stone and bone tools, figurines, jewellery and food-storage jars, which together give a picture of daily life some seven thousand years ago. Models and reconstructions help explain the villages, and the Mycenaean material from the palace site of Iolkos, traditionally the home of Jason of the Argonauts, adds the Bronze Age.

The seven halls follow the story chronologically from the Prehistoric period to Roman times. The Classical and Hellenistic rooms are best known for the painted grave stelae from ancient Demetrias, a city founded near Volos around 294 BC: slabs of limestone decorated with portraits and scenes of daily life in colour, rare survivals of ancient painting. Other cases show statues, inscriptions, coins and jewellery, and the final rooms hold Early Christian and Roman material. Some of the best items are tombs reconstructed with their skeletons and offerings.

A visit typically takes an hour or two. The museum is easy to combine with a walk along the seafront, which runs beside it, and with a visit to the Dimini archaeological site, a short drive away, where the layout of the Neolithic and Mycenaean settlement can be seen. Visitors should check the current opening days with the Ministry of Culture before going, since closing days and hours change, and the museum is traditionally closed on Tuesdays.

The museum is best suited to travellers with some interest in prehistory and ancient life. The collections are clearly arranged and compact, and the building has facilities such as lifts and a shop, which makes the visit manageable even on a hot day.