Benaki Museum in Athens, and Excavation under the Acropolis Museun

Today was a day of somewhat limited sightseeing.  Our group divided somewhat; son Joe and I headed off to see the Benaki Museum of Greek Culture, the principal one of several museums founded by the Benakis family of merchants and political figures.   The Benaki had an extensive collection of art and cultural artifacts running from pre-classical times up to the present day.  Some of it I found interesting, some less so.

At the National Archeological Museum I had enjoyed seeing many miniature Cycladic figures – Benaki had this one

and the Mycenaean miniatures, similar to these ones from around 100 to 1400 BC





These Persian bridle handles featuring facing griffins came from the 9th century

 Moving to the Greek classical period, I enjoyed this two-sided “herm” – images of Hermes that served as road posts

 


and a sculpture of a philosopher from the 1st Century AD

I learned a fair amount about grave stele and lekythoi during my visit to the National Archeological Museum - In these items, dating from the 1st to 3rd Centuries AD, the deceased person was generally shown seated, while friends or relatives are depicted in scenes of leave-taking, whether handing them gifts, displaying items associated with the works of the deceased, or just saying goodbye to them. Here are the items I saw at Benaki. 

This stele, by contrast, portrays a living couple

These lamps from the 6th or 7th century AD have eagles on their handles

After a small collection of vases,

From here, the collection took an abrupt jump to Byzantine icons, with an especial focus on works executed in Crete

Joe remarked at how, in the early years of this art, the infant Jesus is always shown with the head of a fully-grown man – was this the result of the artists being uniformly male and perhaps spending little time with real babies, or was if the result of using adult models?

Here is St George slaying the dragon

Then, the collection jumped again to the 18th century, such as this collection of dfoor frames from the island of Ios

Next we walked through several rooms featuring display cases with bridal costumes and other typical garb from the 19th and early 20th centuries in various Greek locales,

ensembles of the reception rooms of houses in the region, such as this Macedonian 18th Century room

and some iconostases from regional churches (the iconostases is a screen loaded with  icons that separated the sanctuary of a Greek Orthodox church from the parishioners in the nave).

This one from the 18th Century, with insets from elsewhere (and from different times) in separate panels reflecting the decapitation of John th Baptist, the virgin and child, Christ, and St George

Here are details from a different iconostasis, from Noth Epius in 1830

A last series of exhibits included paintings of scenes from the independence struggles of the 1820's and the Cretan Revolution in the 1890's,

 

 
as well as this copy of the original Greek Constitution (described as the museum's prize possession), along with a proclamation from King Otto expressing thanks to two leaders who helped avoid bloodshed during the struggle for a constitution

                    

and a flag from Crete with the expression, Freedom or Death, Enosis I Thanatos

There was also a special contemporary exhibit from the recently deceased Holocaust survivor Avigdor Arikha

I was not overwhelmed with the opus on display, although Joe and I agreed that this depiction of a manila envelope and a black handbag was reminiscent of works by Nancy Huvendick that hang in our dining room depicting paper bags and bricks

The Benaki is located just past the north side of the National Gardens, which in turn is behind the Greek parliament building.  On the way back to our apartment, we happened on a changing of the guard

I didn’t know why there were three costumed soldiers marching away, and not the two that Nancy and I had seen during our first day’s walk around Athens.

Joe rested at that point, but Nancy and I went off to take a look at the excavations displayed under the floor of the entryway to the Acropolis Museum.

The excavations are accessed on the sam ticket as for the Acropolis Museum itself; and we had been told after leaving the Acropolis Museum that we could comde back on another day, The electronic entry gate did not have the same opinion when we scanned our tickets; but the uniformed guard called over a dark-suited superior who overruled the machine, and we were allowed to enter

IThe excavations just reopened for public viewing earlier this year, and I would like to think that it is a work in progress, There were a number of display placards with both text (in Greek and English) as well as numbered drawings  of the buildings we were viewing, but we both had difficulty translating the drawings into an understanding of what ruined building remains were what

There were number of private residences of varying size and richness
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Here were a pair of public latrines, described as an urban innovation developed in Athens

Sam and Nafisa went off to the Cathedral Square, where we met them and schmoozed while the children played with the lions in front of the cathedral

Joe and I went out into a new section of the Plaka, hoping to find a new locale for dinner.  We ended up walking up a steep staircase along Mnifiskleous Street, lined with Tavernas on either side, distinguished only by their differing chairs and tables.  The street was jammed with the chairs and tables, pedestrians passing by, and waiters imploring then to settle into their divers faciities.  Near the top of the street, we stopped for an excellent dinner, the best I had had in Athens, at Anafiotika Restaurant.
  

We shared a Bekri Meze (pork in a tasty and somewhat spicy saice) and Anafiotika salad for starters (with various greens but especially arugula, as well as raw vegetables and substantial sheets of romano pecorino); our mains were respectively, grilled octopus (best I have ever had) and lamb chops.  We did not plan on any dessert, but we were treated to ouzo and a delightful panna cotta.

During the meal, we kept hearing strains of music and raucous applause further up the street.  ON leaving the Anafitioka, we went further up the stairs/street to find the Palio Tetradio, in which musicians were performing and men in folkloric attire were bringing women customers out onto he floor to dance. Lovely atmosphere, so I thought maybe we should try it when we return to Athens at the end of the trip.  Unfortunately, a number of the Trip Advisor reviews suggest that the service is indifferent and the cuisine weak.  So maybe not,,,