Venue: Delphi Archaeological Museum
Address: Τ.Κ. 33054
Town: Delphi, GR

Delphi Archaeological museum (Greek: Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Δελφών) is one of the principal museums of Greece and one of the most visited. It is operated by the Greek Ministry of Culture (Ephorate of Antiquities of Phocis). Founded in 1903, it has been rearranged several times and houses the discoveries made at the Panhellenic sanctuary of Delphi, which date from the Late Helladic (Mycenean) period to the early Byzantine era. Organised in fourteen rooms on two levels, the museum mainly displays statues, including the famous Charioteer of Delphi, architectural elements, like the frieze of the Siphnian Treasury and ex votos dedicated to the sanctuary of Pythian Apollo, like the Sphinx of Naxos. The exhibition floor space is more than 2270 m2, while the storage and conservation rooms (mosaics, ceramics and metals) take up 558 m2. Visitors are also catered to by an entrance hall, a cafeteria and a gift shop. A first, rather small museum was inaugurated on 2 May 1903 to celebrate the end of the first great archaeological campaign of French excavations and to exhibit the findings. The building was designed by the French architect Albert Tournaire, financed by a trust established by the Greek banker and philanthropist Andreas Syngros. Two wings framed a small central building. The arrangement of the collection, designed by the director of the archaeological expedition, Théophile Homolle, was inspired by the view that the architectural parts and sculptures should be put "in context". Thus, parts of the main monuments of the site were reconstructed with plaster. Yet, the exhibits took every inch of available space, making the exhibition look pretty crammed. Furthermore, the museographic approach lacked any chronological or thematic arrangement. The quality of the exhibits themselves was thought to be self-explanatory. The first exhibition was thus destined more to the pleasure of the eyes than to any educational purpose. Despite the admiration it inspired to the Greek and inte