The National Gallery, the Alexandros Soutsos Museum, in Athens is the home of modern Greek art, with over 20,000 works spanning post-Byzantine times to today plus European masters, in a striking renovated building near Evangelismos. See it alongside the city’s headline sights with skip-the-line tickets and tours from My Greece Tours.
This flagship art museum is a cultural highlight of the Athens travel guide. The sections below cover what it is, its history, the collections, the highlights, the building, practical details and how to get there.
What is the National Gallery of Athens?
The National Gallery, officially the National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum, is the principal art museum of Greece, in central Athens. It is the treasury of modern Greek art, holding more than 20,000 works of painting, sculpture and engraving from post-Byzantine times to the present, along with a notable collection of Western European paintings, in a large, newly renovated building.
For anyone wanting to understand the art of modern Greece, the National Gallery is the essential destination, the country’s foremost public art museum and the definitive collection of Greek painting and sculpture. Officially named the National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum, after an early benefactor, it sits on Vasilissis Sofias Avenue in central Athens and serves as the great treasury of modern Greek art, tracing the nation’s artistic development from the centuries after the fall of Byzantium right through to the present day. Its holdings are vast, numbering more than twenty thousand works of painting, sculpture, engraving and other media, which document the evolution of Greek art across the struggle for independence, the building of the modern state and the movements of the twentieth century.
Alongside this national collection, the gallery owns a remarkable group of Western European paintings, including works by major international masters, giving visitors a broader context for the Greek art on display. Housed in a large, glass-fronted building reopened after a major renovation, it is a bright, modern and rewarding museum. For a deeper appreciation of Greece beyond antiquity, it is unmissable. It complements the ancient holdings of the National Archaeological Museum guide. Its history stretches back over a century.
What is the history of the National Gallery?
The National Gallery was founded to collect and display Greek and European art. Named after the benefactor Alexandros Soutsos, it grew through donations and bequests into the national collection of modern Greek art. Its main building on Vasilissis Sofias Avenue underwent a major eight-year expansion and renovation, reopening as a vastly enlarged, modern museum.
The National Gallery has a long history reflecting Greece’s commitment to its modern artistic heritage. It was founded, at the turn of the twentieth century, with the aim of gathering, preserving and exhibiting works of Greek and European art for the nation, and it took its full name from Alexandros Soutsos, a jurist and art lover whose bequest of works and funds helped establish the institution. Over the following decades the collection grew steadily through state acquisitions, artists’ contributions and the generous donations and bequests of collectors, until it had assembled the most important holdings of modern Greek art in existence. In its most recent and dramatic chapter, the gallery’s main building on Vasilissis Sofias Avenue was closed for an ambitious programme of expansion and complete renovation, an eight-year project that more than doubled its exhibition space and transformed it into a state-of-the-art museum.
It reopened to great acclaim in March, fittingly close to the bicentenary of Greek independence, presenting its collections in spacious, light-filled new galleries. This long evolution, from a modest foundation to a grand modern museum, mirrors the story of modern Greece itself. The era of independence is reflected in the Benaki Museum guide. The collections are its great treasure.
What collections does the National Gallery hold?
The National Gallery holds over 20,000 works, chiefly modern Greek art from the post-Byzantine period to today, including painting, sculpture, engraving and drawings that trace the nation’s artistic development. It also owns an important collection of Western European paintings, with works attributed to masters such as El Greco, Caravaggio and others, giving a broad sweep of European and Greek art under one roof.
The heart of the National Gallery is its unrivalled collection of modern Greek art, which forms a continuous visual history of the nation from the seventeenth century to the present. The displays guide visitors through the development of Greek painting and sculpture, from the religious and folk traditions that followed Byzantine art, through the art inspired by the 1821 War of Independence and the building of the modern state, to the influential Greek artists of the nineteenth century such as Nikiforos Lytras, Nikolaos Gyzis and Konstantinos Volanakis, and on into the modernist and contemporary movements of the twentieth century. With more than twenty thousand works in total, including paintings, sculptures, engravings and drawings, the gallery offers the fullest possible picture of Greek artistic achievement.
Complementing this is the museum’s notable collection of Western European art, gathered over the years, which includes paintings by or attributed to major figures of European art history, allowing visitors to see Greek art in dialogue with the wider currents of the continent. Temporary exhibitions in the large dedicated halls regularly bring further treasures and themes. Together these collections make the gallery a rich and varied experience. The Byzantine roots of Greek art appear in the Byzantine and Christian Museum guide. Certain works stand out as highlights.
What are the highlights of the National Gallery?
Highlights of the National Gallery include masterpieces of 19th-century Greek painting by Nikiforos Lytras, Nikolaos Gyzis and Konstantinos Volanakis, works connected to the 1821 Revolution, paintings by Theodoros Vryzakis, and pieces by the European masters in the collection, including works attributed to El Greco. The renovated galleries also showcase modern and contemporary Greek art and major temporary exhibitions.
With so vast a collection, a few works and artists stand out as the highlights that most visitors seek. Pride of place goes to the great masters of nineteenth-century Greek art, whose paintings hang in the renovated galleries: the powerful, sensitive works of Nikiforos Lytras, the celebrated genre and history scenes of Nikolaos Gyzis, and the luminous seascapes of Konstantinos Volanakis, who is often called the father of Greek marine painting. Equally moving are the canvases connected to the 1821 Greek War of Independence, including the stirring historical compositions of Theodoros Vryzakis, which capture the heroism and ideals of the revolution that founded modern Greece.
The museum’s collection of European art provides further highlights, with works by or attributed to international masters, among them pieces linked to the Cretan-born El Greco, who bridges the Greek and European worlds, offering a rare chance to see such names in Athens. Beyond the permanent displays, the gallery’s spacious temporary exhibition halls host major shows of Greek and international art that change through the year. Together these highlights reward both art lovers and curious newcomers with a memorable encounter with Greek creativity. The building that holds them is impressive in itself. Planning a visit is simple.
What is the renovated building like?
The National Gallery’s main building, reopened after an eight-year renovation, is a large, modern museum of around 20,000 square metres, with spacious light-filled halls, glass-fronted walls, dedicated temporary exhibition spaces and a digital information desk. It also has a café-restaurant, making it a comfortable, contemporary place to spend several hours exploring Greek art.
The home of the National Gallery is itself a major part of the experience, following the dramatic transformation completed. The renovation and expansion, which more than doubled the gallery’s size to around twenty thousand square metres, turned the formerly cramped institution into a spacious, airy and thoroughly modern museum fit to showcase the national collection. The new building is characterised by generous, light-filled halls and striking glass-fronted exterior walls that flood the interior with natural light and connect the galleries visually to the city outside, creating a bright and welcoming environment in which to view the art. Large dedicated rooms house the changing temporary exhibitions, while a digital information desk in the lobby helps visitors navigate the collections, and clear, contemporary display design makes the chronological journey through Greek art easy to follow.
On the ground floor, the Ilissos café-restaurant offers drinks, snacks and meals, providing a pleasant spot to pause and reflect during a visit. With its comfortable facilities, accessibility and modern presentation, the building makes exploring even a large collection a relaxed pleasure. For art lovers it is a destination worthy of the treasures it holds. Its setting in the museum district is convenient. Planning the visit is easy.
How do you visit the National Gallery?
The National Gallery stands on Vasilissis Sofias Avenue, opposite the Hilton in the Pangrati area, reached by metro at Evangelismos station on line 3, a short walk away. It is generally open most days with one closing day, charges a modest admission with reductions, and deserves around one and a half to two hours. It combines well with nearby museums and the National Garden.
A visit to the National Gallery is easy to arrange and fits neatly into a cultured day in central Athens. The museum occupies its landmark building on Vasilissis Sofias Avenue, opposite the Hilton Athens on the edge of the Pangrati district, and it is very accessible by public transport: Evangelismos station on metro line 3, the blue line, is only a short walk away, and numerous buses and trolleybuses stop nearby. The gallery is generally open most days of the week, typically with one closing day, and it is wise to check the current opening hours before you go, as they vary by season and day. Admission is modest, with the usual reduced rates for students, seniors and the young, and free-entry days at certain times of year, while temporary exhibitions may carry a separate or combined ticket.
To explore the permanent collection and any temporary shows at a relaxed pace, allow around one and a half to two hours, with extra time for the café. Because the gallery sits among a cluster of fine institutions, it combines beautifully with the nearby Byzantine and Christian Museum, the Museum of Cycladic Art, the War Museum and the green National Garden into a rewarding cultural day. The local routes are explained in the getting around Athens guide. The questions below cover the points visitors ask most.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the National Gallery of Athens known for?
The National Gallery of Athens, the Alexandros Soutsos Museum, is known as the home of modern Greek art, with over 20,000 works from post-Byzantine times to today, including masters such as Lytras, Gyzis and Volanakis and paintings of the 1821 Revolution. It also holds European art and reopened after a major renovation.
Where is the National Gallery in Athens?
The National Gallery is on Vasilissis Sofias Avenue in central Athens, opposite the Hilton Athens on the edge of the Pangrati district. The easiest way to reach it is the metro to Evangelismos station on line 3, a short walk away, close to the Byzantine and Christian Museum and the National Garden.
How long do you need at the National Gallery?
You need around one and a half to two hours to enjoy the National Gallery, taking in its modern Greek masterpieces, the works of the 1821 Revolution, the European paintings and any temporary exhibitions, with extra time for the café. Art enthusiasts may happily spend longer in its spacious, light-filled galleries.