Designed by Prof. Thucydides Valentis in the eclectic modernist style, the War Museum (Greek: Polemiko Mousio) was inaugurated in 1975 in Athens and hosts an interesting collection of war artefacts from antiquity to the modern era. This Greek Museum holds a collection of 20,000 historic photographs from 1897 to 1950s and an important collection of antique maps.
The Entrance Hall of the War Museum features some 12 glass cabinets containing diplomatic corps, infantry, cavalry, artillery, navy and air force uniforms from the 19th century to World War II.
Saroglos Weapon Collection
The Museum boasts one of the largest private collections of weapons in the world. The Saroglos Hall on the Ground Floor features a variety of vintage weapons collected by Captain Petros Saroglos in the later part of the 19th and early 20th century. There are different types of armour and hand-to-hand-battle weapons as well as a large amount of weapons used in the Greek War of Independence: muskets, flintlock, yataghans, many elaborately decorated.
The Mezzanine floor holds a collection of emblems of the Hellenic Armed Forces.
Collection of War Memorabilia from World War II
The Greek War Museum's First Floor holds a collection entitled Occupation, Resistance Liberation and Korean War. It consists of weapons used during these wars: loot seized from the German and Italian occupation forces that were used by the Greek National Resistance; German, American and French light machine guns; pistols, revolvers, rifles and grenades. There are also some uniforms worn by historic Greek personalities and good collection of photographs.
Among these exhibits is an interesting specimen of an improvised rifle used by the Greek Resistance: the mechanism and the barrel were made of parts of the Italian rifle Mannlicher-Carcano while a bust of an ancient Greek warrior is crudely carved on the handle together with the inscription “Lakonia” alluding perhaps to the bravery of the ancient Spartans.
A display cabinet holds the uniform and the two-edged sword and field glasses of Colonel Sarafis, a major figure of the National Resistance during the Second World War. These were given to him by H.R. Alexander, General Commander and Chief of the Middle Eastern Forces and were donated to the Museum by the Sarafis family.
War Museum Collection from Antiquity to World War II
The Athens War Museum collections covering Antiquity and the Byzantine period were quite poor at the time of visit (May 2009). However, the museum’s second floor holds interesting exhibits from the Greek War of Independence (1821-1829), the Balkan Wars (1912-3) and the Second World War (1940-5).
There are several paintings and sculptures inspired by conflicts throughout Greek history of the 19th and 20th century; documents of 19th-century national assemblies; portraits of famous chieftains and politicians from the Greek War of Independence and post-independence period; 3-D display cabinets with scenes from Greek army battles of 1940, historic photographs from various battles, propaganda posters, cartoons and drawings from the Second World War.
Greek War Museum Aircraft Collection
Five aircraft are exhibited at the War Museum’s open space. Visitors can climb on a ladder and have a view of the cockpit's interior. Among the military airplanes is the first military aircraft Daedalus used by Lt. D. Kamberos on 5 December 1912.
Address
Vas. Sophias Avenue & 2 Rizari Street, 10675 Athens
Nearest Underground Station: Line 3, Evangelismos
Opening Hours
Tue-Sat. 9am – 2pm; Sun. 9.30 – 2pm; Monday closed.
Admission Free
Lito Apostolakou - Lito is a historian with an interest in digital archives and online historical resources. She is the author of blog Palimpsest.
Join the Conversation