Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki
Macedonia's main archaeological collection, from Neolithic finds to the gold-rich tombs of Derveni.
The Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki opened in 1962 in a low, light-filled modernist building by Patroklos Karantinos, one of the leading Greek architects of the inter-war generation. It gathers finds from across Macedonia, arranged in permanent galleries that run from prehistory through the Archaic, Classical and Roman periods to late antiquity. A later underground extension, built for the city's year as European Capital of Culture in 1997, greatly enlarged the exhibition space and added a sculpture-filled courtyard and garden.
Its best-known holdings come from the Derveni cemetery north of the city, excavated in 1962: the bronze Derveni Krater, a large volute vessel worked in relief, and the carbonised Derveni Papyrus, the oldest surviving manuscript from Europe and an entry on the UNESCO Memory of the World register. The gallery devoted to the gold of Macedon assembles wreaths, diadems and jewellery from regional cemeteries, while other rooms cover the Macedonian kingdom, the Roman colony and the topography of ancient Thessaloniki.
Highlights
- The bronze Derveni Krater, a volute vessel of the late 4th century BC
- The Derveni Papyrus, the oldest surviving manuscript from Europe
- Gold of Macedon gallery of wreaths, diadems and funerary jewellery
- Patroklos Karantinos's 1962 modernist building and sculpture courtyard
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