Museum of Prehistoric Thera, Santorini

Museum of Prehistoric Thera, Santorini (must see)

The Museum of Prehistoric Thera allows one to take a step back in time to explore ancient civilizations. The exhibition hall’s collection comes from excavations of ancient Akrotiri and other sites around the Aegean Islands. If you have a strong interest in the prehistoric, this is the place for you. The exhibition hall opened in 2000.

The museum’s collection is organized into four areas, research, geology, the history of the island from the early 17th century BC, and the mature Late Cycladic I period. Although the gallery is very small, it is very well organized and manages to present an interesting mix of artifacts.

Pottery cups, plant fossils, jewelry, jars, marble figures, and plaster casts of furniture, household equipment, tools, and weapons are some of the many items that you will see. Two recommend items to not miss are the frescoes that show Minoans gathering saffron stamens from blooming crocuses and the painted swallows that migrated to the cliffs each year. Other impressive items include wall paintings of the Ladies and Papyri and the Blue Monkeys.

Why You Should Visit:
To enjoy what many experts rated as one of the most important museums in the world since it uniquely shows ordinary everyday life in an Ancient city and civilization buried 3700 years ago, almost 1800 years before Pompei! Everything this museum houses demonstrates how advanced and artistic this ancient civilization was, before being displaced by a major eruption of the island's volcano.

Tip:
Highly recommended in combination with a visit to the archaeological excavations in Akrotiri, where the objects were dug out. You can purchase combination tickets to visit this museum as well as the Akrotiri site.

Want to visit this sight? Check out these Self-Guided Walking Tours in Santorini. Alternatively, you can download the mobile app "GPSmyCity: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app turns your mobile device to a personal tour guide and it works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.

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Museum of Prehistoric Thera on Map

Sight Name: Museum of Prehistoric Thera
Sight Location: Santorini, Greece (See walking tours in Santorini)
Sight Type: Museum/Gallery
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:

Walking Tours in Santorini, Greece

Create Your Own Walk in Santorini

Create Your Own Walk in Santorini

Creating your own self-guided walk in Santorini is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.
Fira Walking Tour

Fira Walking Tour

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Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.7 Km or 1.7 Miles
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Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.3 Km or 1.4 Miles
Oia Walking Tour

Oia Walking Tour

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Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 1.0 Km or 0.6 Miles