The Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki is housed in a building that was designed by Patroklos Karantinos and architecturally is an example of the modern structural trends in Greece. The building process was completed in 1962 and the inauguration took place on the 27th of October 1962, exactly 50 years after the foundation of the Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum as an organization in 1912.
What are the exhibits of the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki?
The museum exhibitions include findings from the Thessaloniki area and the whole region of Macedonia, from the prehistoric, Neolithic, Classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods. Amongst the exhibits, there are parts of the skull of the "Macedonian Ouranopithekus", an early anthropoid that lived in the region of Greece as well as a replica and further information about the skull of the "Man of Petralona" from 200.000 BC.
A big part of the museum shows the life and its progress in the region of Macedonia, from the Archaic until the Roman era, with a variety of exhibits that come from excavations in Thessaloniki, Pieria, Imathia, Chalkidiki, and Kilkis regions. Another important part of the exhibition is the presentation of the history of Thessaloniki, with an emphasis on the Roman and Byzantine era when Thessaloniki reached its peak within numerous perspectives.
The most recent renovation of the museum was finished in 2004 parallel to the reorganization of its exhibitions. The use of multimedia applications interactive maps and descriptions, make the visit to the museum a great experience for each visitor regardless the age.