What Is The Museum Of Cycladic Art?

The Museum of Cycladic Art (MCA) is a museum situated in Athens that houses a collection of artifacts of Cycladic art. It is managed by the Nicholas P. Goulandris Foundation.

It features a 5,000-year-old artwork collection from the Cyclades Islands and displays many pieces of art from Cyprus and Ancient Greece.

It was founded in 1986, to house the collection of Nicholas and Dolly Goulandris. Since then it has grown to accommodate new acquisitions, obtained either through purchases or through donations by collectors and institutions.

The Museum’s main building, built in the centre of Athens in 1985, was designed by the Greek architect Ioannis Vikelas. In 1991, it acquired a new wing, the neo-classical Stathatos Mansion.

Today, the Museum of Cycladic Art has housed temporary exhibitions of some of the most important Greek and international modern and contemporary artists.

History

In the early 1960s Nicholas and Dolly Goulandris began to collect Greek antiquities and artifacts belonging to the Cycladic culture. The small collection was granted legal status in 1962 by the Greek Archaeological Service.

The collection grew over the years and between 1979 – 1984 it was exhibited globally in many museums. After Nicholas death in 1985, Dolly started the N.P. Goulandris Foundation, to which she donated their Collection of Cycladic and Ancient Greek Art.

The Museum of Cycladic Art opened its doors to the public in January 1986 and is now a living cultural institution in the heart of Athens. The main aim of the museum is to communicate with the public through the organising of temporary exhibitions devoted to archaeology and art, educational programmes, creative activities for children and families, lectures, one-day conferences and seminars.

The Museum is housed in two separate buildings connected by a glass-roofed corridor. The Main Building house the permanent collections while the New Wing, and the Stathatos Mansion, house the temporary exhibitions.

The Main Building was built in 1985 by the architect Ioannis Vikelas. It is a four-storey building with galleries, occupying about 2,300 square meters, including storerooms, workshops, and offices.

The New Wing was added in 2005 and added another 500 square meters to the museum. The ground floor of the main building accommodates a shop and the atrium, where the museum cafe is also situated.

The Stathatos Mansion is one of the most important examples of Neoclassical architecture in Athens and house the temporary exhibitions of the museum. It was designed by the Bavarian architect Ernst Ziller and built in 1895 as the villa of the renowned ship-owner Othon Stathatos and his wife Athina.

The Mansion combines elements of Greek and Roman architecture with the canons of Romantic Classicism, prevailing in nineteenth-century Europe. The building has two identical fronts, which meet at a monumental porch of Renaissance form, while the entrance is emphasized by an arched facade supporting a balcony on the first floor, as well as by two statues crowning the roof.

No alterations have been made to the dining room and the main drawing rooms. The upstairs bedchambers today host the temporary exhibitions. The basement now accommodates the offices and services of the MCA.

The out-buildings to the far end of the garden does not belong to the MCA and house public services.

Interest For Today

Although the Museum of Cycladic Art is not one of the best-known museums in Athens, it is an interesting one to visit.

The collection of works of art from the Cyclades, Cyprus and Ancient Greece are evidence of the various cultures that bloomed from the fourth century BC until the sixth century AD in the Aegean Sea islands and East Mediterranean.

The collections are displayed in the four floors of the museum according to themes:

1. Cycladic culture: This is housed on the first floor and shows more than 350 sculptures, vessels and figurines made of stone, marble, metal, bronze, and clay. These objects are characteristic of Cycladic culture from the Early Bronze Age.
2. Ancient Greek Art: On the second and fourth floor close to 400 artefacts dating between 2000 BC and the fourth century AD can be seen. All the pieces of art, including jewellery, weapons, glass objects and vases are from central Aegean and represent the spreading of Classical culture in the islands.
3. Cypriot Art: On the third-floor relics can be viewed found in Cyprus dating from the Chalcolithic to the Modern periods. It includes objects made of clay, stone, marble, gold, and silver.
4. Scenes of daily life during Ancient times: The fourth floor also displays objects from the Antiquity. Visitors will get a good idea of how daily life was for the Ancient Greeks.

Hours of Business

• Monday – Wednesday – Friday – Saturday: 10:00 to 17:00
• Thursday: 10:00 to 20:00
• Sunday: 11:00 to 17:00,
• Tuesday: closed

Holidays closed

• December 25
• December 26
• January 1
• Clean Monday
• March 25
• Easter Sunday & Easter Monday
• May 1
• Holy Spirit Monday
• August 15

Tickets

• General Admission: €7
• Monday Admission and Reduced entrance fee: €3,5
• Group Visits (groups of 15 or more): €5 per person

Reduced entrance fee applies to

• Seniors (over 65)
• Students between 19 to 26 years old

Free admission

• Cycladic Friends
• Children under 18
• Visitors with disabilities and their companion
• Archaeologists and art history students
• Members of ICOM – ICOMOS
• Greek unemployed citizens, with their current unemployment card – press
• Qualified guides teachers accompanying school-classes participating in educational programmes
• Parents accompanying their kids for the Saturday’s & Sunday’s programmes

Contact information

• Address: 4 Neophytou Douka str, Athens, Greece.
• Coordinates: 37°58′33.61″N, 23°44′31.85″E
• Telephone number: (+30) 210 7228321-3
• Fax number: (+30) 210 7239382
• Email: museum@cycladic.gr

Access to the Museum is possible through two entrances and the two buildings are interconnected. The admission ticket is valid for both wings of the MCA and the respective temporary exhibitions, unless otherwise indicated. It provides access for disabled persons via a wheelchair ramp at the entrance to the Main building.

How To Get There?

The MCA can be reached by metro, bus, trolley bus or car. There is no parking facilities and the neighbourhood where the museum is situated is densely populated. Visitors are advised to use one of the means of public transport. If a private car is used, paid parking is available at the following locations:

• 14 Philikis Etareias Square, Telephone number: (+30) 210 7221548
• 4 Rizari St & 45 Vas. Constantinou Ave (Polis Park), Telephone number: (+30) 210 7255420
• 25-29 Karneadou (Lemos Centre), Telephone number: (+30) 210 7215068