Byzantine and Christian Museum at Thessaloniki of Greece has the finest collection of Byzantine art. The museum was open for the public in 1994 and is housed at a modern building and the construction work started in 1989 and completed in 1993. The museum is spread out in an area of 11500 m2 and has 11 rooms of its permanent exhibition galleries. The museum was awarded the Council of Europe Museum Prize in the year 2005 and presents various aspects of Byzantine as well as post Byzantine period art, culture and religion.

Why visit

The museum is very impressive exhibiting important icons belonging from the 4^th century till the recent times. It also tells the story of Thessalonikiand the social history of the place through art and artifacts. Each piece of art displayed is unique and has a price of its own and you will be quite amazed to see some of the masterpieces that belong thousands of years back yet so spectacular. There are colorful frescos which show scenes from the Old and New Testament and also scenes of Paradise which is very blissful. There are also terrific icons like the 12^th century icon of Virgin Mary and Christ as infant. The place is a bundle of knowledge for the history and art lovers and it is a must visit place to know the Byzantine stories in details.

What to see

The museum has 11 rooms of permanent displays with its certain names and specialties. The Early Christian Church room has exhibits that show the visitor how the early Christian church was in the 4^th and 5^th century AD. The Early Christian city and house room shows the insight of the public as well as private houses of the early Christian period. The From the Elysian Fields to Christian Paradise room shows funerary customs and the ancient cemeteries of 4^th to the 7^thcentury. The next room is the Dynasties of Byzantine emperors which show the Byzantine dynasties from 5^th century till 15^th century.

The Byzantine fortress room exhibits emergence and organization of Middle Byzantine fortress. There is a display of mosaics and carved marble panels from the Ayios Dimitrios after the great fire of 1917 and you can see how splendid someone could build a church once. The museum also has drain pipes and cooking pots of the ancient times. There is a shop that sells a wide range of books upon Byzantine culture and postcards that you can buy as gifts or memoirs.

Opening time

The museum is open from Monday to Sunday from 8am till 3pm.

Admission

The entry fee of the church is 4 euros and you can have a special ticket of 6 euros for the archaeological museum and the Byzantine culture museum together. There is also a reduced price of 2 euros for students and seniors.

Transport

The museum can be reached by public transport. There is bus 58 from Dikasterion square to the museum or you can take any bus that heads east from anywhere of the city.