Museum of Byzantine Culture Tours and Activities

As befits a city that was under Byzantine rule between the fifth and 13th centuries, Thessaloniki has a rich and priceless supply of Byzantine antiquities that are chronologically displayed in the city’s award-winning contemporary museum. Opened in September 1994, the Museum of Byzantine Culture was designed by modernist architect Kyriakos Krokos and has spectacular displays of mosaic fragments, icons, stone tablets bearing ancient inscriptions and delicate wall paintings taken from tombs. Although some of the almost 43,000 artifacts in the collection were moved there from the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens, most were unearthed locally.

The three permanent exhibitions walk through the centuries of Byzantine rule in Thessaloniki, while the final two rooms display icon collections and religious engravings donated to the museum by Greek philanthropists. Multi-themed temporary exhibitions alternate precious treasures from the museum’s repository, and staff also operate vital conservation and preservation work onsite.