Athens War Museum

The Athens War Museum is the museum of the Greek Armed Forces, and houses a large range of exhibits relating to Greece’s military history. From weapons and uniforms to maps and prints, the Athens War Museum covers many time periods, from prehistory to World War Two and including an exhibit about Alexander the Great.

Athens War Museum history

In 1964, the Hellenic State of Greece decided to found a war museum in honour of those who fought for Greece and its freedom. Greece had recently emerged from the Civil War (1946-1949), rejoining the international community as a state free from communism when it became part of the European Economic Community in 1962. The 1960s saw rapid economic development in Greece.

The museum’s design was undertaken by a team of scientists, headed by Professor Thoukidides Valentis of the National Technical university of Athens. On July 18, 1975, the President of the Hellenic Republic H.E. Constantine Tsatsos and the Minister of National Defense Evangelos Averof-Tositsas inaugurated the Museum. After a period under a right-wing military junta ending in 1974, the reestablished democratic Hellenic state could celebrate Greek national identity in a national history museum.

Athens War Museum today

Today, the museum’s various activities include publishing books, the establishment and maintenance of monuments and memorials and the aid to services and agencies all over Greece. The Museum’s exhibition areas are distributed over four levels (floors) and present images of Greek history from antiquity to the present.

Visitors can walk among an impressive range of war machinery and weapons that were invented and used by men from the prehistoric times until the 20th century. These exhibits also include some works of art that represent historical battles, such as Greek painter Flora-Karavia’s sketches and portraits of the Balkan Wars, alongside photographs, film documentaries and historical maps.

On the ground floor explore the military uniforms of various periods. The balconies and the garden, while being a nice stop to stop and soak up the sunshine, are covered with artillery of different period weapons used by the Greek Navy as well as aircrafts used by the Hellenic Air Force.

Getting to Athens War Museum

For public transport, the nearest bus stop is Euangelismos across the road, on routes 203, 204B, 211, 214 and 250. The nearest metro stop is ΣΤ. ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΣΜΟΣ, 240m away.

If you’re driving around this bustling city, then there is parking at Polis Park at the museum.