What Is The Archaeological Museum Of Nikopolis?
The Archaeological Museum of Nikopolis is found in the Preveza regional unit in north-western Greece. It is located just to the north of Preveza town in Epiros, Greece.
Nikopolis is an ancient city that was built around 31 BC by Octavius after the Battle of Aktion and means the City of Victory.
The modern museum overflows with the treasures of Nikopolis that includes Roman marble statuary, architectural parts, and mosaics from Byzantine churches. English-language explanations help envision life in the city, as well as the massive naval Battle of Aktion.
History
Up to 1940, the Archaeological Museum of Preveza (Nikopolis) was in an Ottoman mosque, in the city of Preveza, Greece. The mosque was bombed by Italian aircraft in 1940 and partially destroyed. Many of the exhibits in the museum were stolen.
After World War II, the mosque was demolished by the Greek state. In 1960, the Technical Services of the Ministry of Education built a small Archaeological Museum inside the Byzantine walls of ancient Nikopolis. In 1972, the finds from the excavations at Nikopolis were put on display and a storeroom was built near the museum, to house the sculpture and finds not included in the exhibition.
This site housed the excavation findings for more than three decades before it was decided to build a new museum 5 kilometres North of Preveza. Between 1999 and 2001, financed by the Second Community Support Framework and the Directorate of Execution of Museum and Cultural Buildings’ Works of the Ministry of Culture, the modern museum was constructed. It is situated at the entrance of the city of Preveza and about one kilometre away from the archaeological site of Nikopolis.
It was finished in 2006, after the completion of the enhancement works of the surrounding space for the 33rd Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classic Antiquities, so that it could proceed with the antiquity exhibition.
The Museum as we know it today, opened to the public in July 2009. It occupies a space of about 2,150 square meters and consist of two main exhibition rooms of 200 square metres each, a multi-use room, administration offices, conservation laboratories, storing rooms, ticket desk, museum shop, café, and guests’ rooms.
Interest For Today
The exhibits reflect all the dimensions of the human presence and activities during the long-lasting existence of the city in both Roman and Early Christian times. Special emphasis is given on the important position of the city between two empires and the two capitals, Rome and Constantinople, and its progression through time.
The permanent exhibition, dedicated to the Roman and Early Christian Nikopolis, is housed in the two main exhibition halls of the museum, and aims at presenting the development of Nikopolis into a major political and cultural centre of the Late Antiquity.
The first room is dedicated to the founding and evolution of the public sphere of the city from its foundation in 31 BC until the 10th century AD, and its gradual transition into the Early Christian city with its powerful fortification, the impressive basilicas, and the intense Christian life.
The second room focuses on the daily life of the inhabitants, through their occupations and activities like trade, shipping, and workshops. It shows their habits and perceptions of death.
After completion of the antiquity’s exhibition, the 33rd Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classic Antiquities aims at connecting the Museum to the network of the archaeological site of Nikopolis and the daily cultural life of the city and the modern cultural activities. This will include educational programs.
Some of the most important exhibits of the museum are:
- Marble funerary statue of a lion from the area of the theatre dated to the 3rd century BC
- Marble statue of Athena found in the odeum
- Marble cylindrical base with a relief representation of Amazonomachy. It was also incorporated in the pulpit of the basilica of Alkison in the mid-5th century AD). As a result, part of the original relief decoration was replaced with mosaics depicting heads of saints.
- Marble head of Octavius Augustus, 1st century BC – 1st century AD
- Marble sarcophagus dating to the 2nd and 3rd century AD
- Marble portrait of Octavian Augustus dating to the 1st century BC to 1st century AD
- Marble tomb sculpture, with the name of the deceased, his father, his profession, and his age.
- Marble oblation altar, dedicated to the Empress Sabine, wife of Emperor Hadrian.
- Marble sarcophagus, with lions and flowers
- Marble statue of goodness Minerva – a Roman copy of 4th century BC
- Marble statue of a muse, the “small Heraclitus”
- Broken marble head of General Agrippa
- Marble head of Faustina, wife of Emperor Marcus Aurelius
- Marble Cylindrical base of a statue, with a relief of the Battle of the Amazons
- Glass urn, coins, and hair pins from Odeum
Hours of Business
- Monday to Friday from 08:00 – 15:00
The museum and the archaeological site of Nikopolis are closed on weekends and official holidays.
Holidays
- 1 January: closed
- 6 January: 08:30 – 15:00
- Shrove Monday: 08:30 – 15:00
- 25 March: closed
- Good Friday: 08:30 – 15:00
- Holy Saturday: 08:30 – 15:00
- 1 May: closed
- Easter Sunday: closed
- Easter Monday: 08:30 – 15:00
- Holy Spirit Day: 08:30 – 15:00
- 15 August: 08:30 – 15:00
- 28 October: 08:30 – 15:00
- 25 December: closed
- 26 December: closed
Tickets
- Full: €8, Reduced: €4
Tickets are valid for Nikopolis Archaeological Museum and the archaeological site.
Free admission days
- 6 March (in memory of Melina Mercouri)
- 18 April (International Monuments Day)
- 18 May (International Museums Day)
- The last weekend of September annually (European Heritage Days)
- 28 October
Contact information
- Address: 3rd km National road of Preveza-Ioannina, Τ.Κ. 48100, Preveza (Prefecture of Preveza)
- Telephone: +30 26820 89892
- Fax: +30 26820 89893
- Email: efapre@culture.gr
How To Get There
The museum is just north of Preveza. It can be reached by bus or private vehicle. Any bus bound for Ioannina or Filippiada will drop you of at a stop in front of the museum. From the museum, it is another 1 kilometre to the main entrance of the archaeological site.
