Guide to the Municipal Gallery in Athens: Exhibition, Admission, History

The Municipal Gallery of Athens is an art museum in the Metaxourgio district of Athens, with a focus on modern Greek art.

In this complete guide to the Municipal Gallery in Athens, you'll learn all about the exhibition, history, and helpful information about how to get there and tickets.

What Can I Do at the Municipal Gallery?

Housed in a stately residence in the Metaxourgio district, the Municipal Gallery of Athens inspires with an impressive art collection. 

The Municipal Museum of Art presents a panorama of modern Greek art of the 19th and 20th centuries in an area of 1500 m² spread over two buildings. The museum's inventory includes around 3000 works of art, including paintings, drawings, engravings and sculptures.

You can admire works by the country's most important artists. The extensive collection of engravings and the collection of selected works by foreign artists are also worth mentioning.

The Museum Building

The museum building itself, which has a checkered history, is also worth seeing. The building, one of the oldest neoclassical structures in Athens, was built as a department store in 1833 to a design by the renowned Danish architect Hans Christian Hansen. In subsequent years, however, it served instead as a hospital, barracks and silk factory, after which the Metaxourgio neighborhood is named.

Temporary Exhibitions

The museum regularly presents temporary exhibitions, which are shown in the exhibition space specially designed for this purpose. The focus is primarily on Greek artists.

Admission, Tickets and Guided Tours

How Do I Get to the Municipal Gallery?

The art museum is located in the Metaxourgio district, northwest of the historic center. It is housed in a former silk factory on Avdi Square. It can be reached in a 10-minute walk from Omonia Square.

Those arriving by public transport should take bus line 025, 026 or 027 to "Ika" or metro line 2 to "Metaxourgio".

Visitors arriving from the Piraeus cruise port can go to the nearby Piraeus Metro Station and board the M1 line. A single ticket is sufficient for the 15-minute journey to Thiseio station. From there it is about a 10-minute walk.

History of the Municipal Gallery

The origins of the Municipal Gallery date back to the 19th century, when there were growing calls for the establishment of a municipal art collection.

Finally, in 1914, such a project was formally approved. With the founding of the facility in 1923, the purchase of the first works began. Half of the current collection was acquired between 1930 and 1940.

With the National Gallery, another state institution dedicated to art was added in Athens in 1976.

In 1982, the Municipal Gallery moved into a 19th-century building designed by Panagiotis Kalkos, which had served as the municipal orphanage. As the collection continued to grow, it became necessary to move to a larger building. The former silk factory, which gave the Metaxourgio district its name and was built in 1833 according to a design by the Danish architect Hans Christian Hansen, serves as the new location.

As one of the leading municipal art museums in Athens, the Municipal Gallery is one of the must- see places in Athens, especially for art lovers.