The Mask of Agamemnon
Mycenae's gold that stunned Schliemann.
Emilio J. Rodríguez Posada — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Ann Wuyts from Olen (London), Belgium (United Kingdom) — CC BY 2.0 · Didier Descouens — Public domain · Didier Descouens — Public domain
Two specialities: the Acropolis is its site's museum (the rock's treasures in architectural theatre), the National the whole civilisation's vault (Mycenae, the bronzes, Antikythera). One Athens day: the Acropolis, tied to what you climb. Two days or real passion: the National is obligation, not option.
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The National Archaeological is the Greek world's first treasury, uncontested: every summit of Greek antiquity not in its original place is here — the gold Mask of Agamemnon from Mycenae's graves (Schliemann, 1876), the complete bronze Poseidon (or Zeus) with raised arm from the sea floor, the little jockey flying on his horse, and Akrotiri's Santorini frescoes seventeen centuries before Pompeii. And history's strangest piece: the Antikythera Mechanism — the 2nd-century BC mechanical astronomy computer whose thirty gears science only read by CT scan: one hall worth the journey alone. The giant neoclassical building sits north of the centre (off the tourist path — taxi or Victoria metro), and a serious visit is half a day: the antiquities lover's main event, and the perfect opener explaining everything you will later see on the sites.
Mycenae's gold that stunned Schliemann.
Poseidon or Zeus, whole from the seabed.
Santorini seventeen centuries before Pompeii.
The bronze boy and his horse as wind.
Patission 44, 10682 Athens