War Museum Athens - Rizari 2-4

A lot of weapons and enough information about Greece in war. From prehistory and antiquity to the Korean War.

A very interesting museum worth visiting. Covering a wide range of exhibits. I truly enjoyed my visit at this museum. And don’t miss the outdoor exhibits

The amount of antiques and information at this museum are plentiful. The breadth of weapons, armor and clothing they have is spread across centuries. It's quite marvelous and worth the time.

Rich military history is apparent in the museum displays. It's well organized and thought out. It would be very welcome if they included more English descriptions. And some English text needs to be moderated. But heck, it's fun to search for really bad translations and it makes it like an easter egg hunt. You can even make a game out of it and whomever finds more, gets a cookie. All in all, recommend visiting.

Visited 24 Oct 2021 (6 euros/person). Would recommend for military history diehards and those with kids who like to look at a bunch of guns. Disappointment. Sought to learn about Greek military history, whatever they wished to impart. Sadly I walked away with little broader insight into the subject matter. Museum has many great artifacts with which they might educate visitors. Instead exhibits are a hodgepodge of inconsistent curations assembled across many decades by many people in different styles and qualities. Information that does get shared is so granular that the big picture never emerges. Result is that this is largely “a bunch of stuff” museum with artifacts and photos presented with little to no context and few if any captions. Often if there are captions, there is no English. For example, museum showcases Greek involvement in Korean War. There is a wall full of photos with just a handful of captions, only in Greek. Accompanying descriptive text is only in Greek. This isn’t the anomaly, this curation style spans 20th century exhibits. It seems a surprisingly dated, lazy way to impart important history...like World War II...not just to Greek children but to foreigners like myself. A bunch of photos, a bunch of weaponry, and an absent narrative. In another exhibit there is a wall of beautiful early 20th century weaponry. None of these artifacts are captioned in Greek or English. Wars of antiquity are covered a bit better but still lack an easy-to-follow narrative. It’s “Here’s a map but we won’t help you with any context.” Curators have thrown in a few TVs showing generally low-yield content with awful reenactments. TVs alone do not absolve the curatorial challenge of *explaining* subject matter. Top floor has a few broader summaries which are most welcome. However floor is darkly lit. Greek captions are presented on displays probably as originally intended, which is to say at a legible reading angle. English captions seem an afterthought and are displayed at an angle making the small text very difficult to read. I garnered the most insight from raised-relief maps associated with various exhibits. They seem to have been executed many years ago, but the quality is outstanding. Regrettably the great workmanship is accompanied by all-Greek text so unless you already know what you’re looking at, it’s a loss. The good news is the Athens War Museum can do a lot on a low budget to improve. They have all the artifacts to drive a top-notch military history presentation. They just need to figure out how to tell stories. And if it is within your mission to attract a foreign audience, then tell your stories also in English and caption also in English. I urge Athens War Museum curators to visit the Epigraphic Museum’s “Red Room” to see what a simple, easy-to-read narrative that includes English looks like when it is well done. How nice not to have to fight every step to extract information the museum seeks to impart.

Given Greece's long history, there is plenty of material to work with. We came for the 19-20th century material but were impressed with the entire collection. Highlights: the never-used mechanism of an 1870 Gatling gun; a mini-sub straight from Red Rackham's Treasure; homemade partisan rifles; and a good collection of Turkish hunting rifles.

Pretty interesting museum. It's got artifacts dating back to the neolithic to more modern conflicts. Most of the placards are bilinual in Greek and English. Very nice artillery and AA gun collection outside.

This was truly an exceptional place to visit! An incredible array of military equipment and history. A really great aspect of Athens military culture and a must spot to visit!