The latest jewel in Santorini’s crown – the renovated and modernized Archaeological Museum of Thira – has opened its doors to the public. The work of upgrading it to meet modern museum-building standards was combined with bringing to the fore the building’s inspired modernist design. This was the work of the architect Konstantinos Dekavallas, when the structure was built immediately after the devastating earthquake of 1956.
Kore of Thira. This colossal Archaic statue, one of the greatest works of ancient Greek sculpture, was excavated by the late archaeologist Charalambos Sigalas of Santorini. Here it is exhibited for the first time on its new, ultra-modern and seismic-resistant base. So freed from the shackles of its metal restraints and supports, the monumental sculpture is highlighted in all its virtuosity and the viewer can admire the almost intact masterpiece, without distraction. This demanding project just completed is dedicated to the memory of Charalambos Sigalas. Like the new exhibition with the wall-paintings at the Museum of Prehistoric Thira, the emblematic Kore is, with no exaggeration, a reason in itself to visit Santorini.
After the doubling in size of the permanent exhibition of the Museum of Prehistoric Thira with the addition of the Thiran wall-paintings four years ago, the opening of the Archaeological Museum with the Kore means that the archaeological exhibitions in the island’s museums has now tripled. This historical moment for the island is combined with the temporary exhibition Cycladic Women. A co-production between the Ministry of Culture, through the Ephorate of Antiquities of Cyclades, and the Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art is the largest pan-Cycladic exhibition ever organized for the archipelago, as well as the largest temporary exhibition ever hosted in the Cyclades. In this international exhibition event, priceless exhibits from all the islands and all historical periods were gathered in Santorini as a fitting setting to the permanent installation of the Kore of Thira at the Archaeological Museum.
photograph: Andreas Santrouzanos
08:30–15:30
