War Museum
(2 Rizari St., Athens tel. 210 3231841)
It is housed in the newly constructed building on Vas. Sophia Avenue and was opened to the public in July 1975, with the purpose of displaying the media, "trophies" and other memorabilia of wars waged by the Greek nation from prehistoric times to the present day.Furthermore, by presenting not only the original exhibits, but also models, representations, paintings and photographs, it tries to help in the research and study of the history of the Greeks and to emphasize the historical continuity and unity of the Greek nation. The first 3 of the 12 rooms on the upper floor display weapons and other objects from the prehistoric, classical and Byzantine periods, with the most important weapons, replicas of ancient ships and portraits of 2 Byzantine emperors. In rooms D', E' and S' there are exhibits from the Frankish, Turkish and 1821 uprisings. Most important are the "Charter of Riga Feraeus" and also weapons and paintings from events and battles of these periods. Objects from the first post-liberation period, the Balkan wars and WWI World War II are exhibited in rooms VII, VIII and VIII, with photographs and drawings of battles, as well as personal items of great men of the time. There are also exhibits from the Asia Minor campaign and the Greco-Italian war of 1940-1941 (halls I' and 1A') and the German invasion (hall 1B'). On the middle floor there is a small exhibition from the operations of the Greek army in the periods 1941-1944, 1946-1949 and from the Korean War, as well as exhibits from the creation and the first "heroic" period of the Greek air force during 1912 -1913 and 1917-1922. On the ground floor, a part of the very important collection of weapons of P. Saroglou is exhibited, while in the basement there is a collection of military uniforms, a rich photographic and historical archive, a collection of maps, as well as a 400-seat auditorium.
The open-air exhibition in the courtyard of the museum with large and bulky weapons of the last periods of Greek history, such as torpedoes, mines, modern missiles, tank towers, as well as airplanes, including an exact copy of the "Daedalus" is also of interest. , of the first aircraft used in military operations during the period 1912-1913.
Editor: Fotini Anastasopoulou
