THE MUSEUM TODAY
Over the past two decades, the Benaki Museum has experienced a significant increase in the number of its objects, staff, visitors and activities. This has led to a redefinition of its role as a museum, taking into account the demands of contemporary society and the need to ensure and faciliate the Museum’s future operation.

In the light of past developments and current opinions, it was deemed necessary to divide the Museum’s collections and services into several different entities. This will be accomplished by moving the Museum’s Islamic collection to a group of buildings in the Kerameikos district of Athens which were donated by Lambros Eftaxias and which are presently undergoing restoration, by moving the collection of Chinese art to the building on Kriezotou street which was donated by the artist Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas and which houses his former studio and personal collections, by moving the Department of Historical Archives to the house of Penelope Delta in Kifissia which was donated by Alexandra Papadopoulou, by moving the Museum’s collection of children’s Toys ang Games to the neo-Gothic mansion, left to the Museum by Vera Kouloura, and by moving the Photographic Archive to the apartment donated by Penelope Vlangali and Mary Carolou.

This reorganisation of the Museum’s structure has been influenced by contemporary trends towards decentralisation, which is realised in this case by the creation of a series of separate but interrelated annexes.

The well-known neoclassical mansion of the Benaki Museum continues to be the focal point of this new structure. It has nevertheless undergone thorough modernisation and has been extended through the addition of a new wing. This building will provide a home for the Greek collections of the Museum, offering visitors a rare opportunity to form a complete and uninterrupted picture of the historical evolution of the Greek people.

The Kouloura Building

The Building Complex in Kerameikos

The Building
of N. Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas Gallery

The Delta House