National Archaeological Museum of Athens

The National Archaeological Museum in Athens was founded in 1829, not long after Greek independence, to gather antiquities scattered across the country. It is now considered one of the great archaeological museums in the world, with holdings spanning prehistory through late antiquity.

The collection is best known for the Mask of Agamemnon, a gold funerary mask from Mycenae dated to roughly 1550-1500 BC, and the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient geared device recovered from a shipwreck. Bronze sculpture is a particular strength, including the Artemision Bronze, a large-scale figure of Zeus or Poseidon.

Other highlights include the Antikythera Youth, a bronze recovered from the same wreck as the mechanism, and the Jockey of Artemision, a rare surviving example of ancient Greek genre sculpture.