The Archaeological Museum of Polygyros is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

Polygyros Polygyros (Greek: Πολύγυρος) is a town and municipality in Central Macedonia, Greece. It is the capital of Chalkidiki. Geography Polygyros town (pop. 6,121 at the 2011 census) is built in the shape of an amphitheatre on a plateau on th ...

Chalkidiki Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region co ...

, in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. The museum is located in Iroou Square in the town centre and displays representative archaeological finds from all over Chalkidiki. More specifically, they cover a span of time ranging from the Bronze Age to the Roman period and come from ancient

Stageira Stagira (), Stagirus (), or Stageira ( el, Στάγειρα or ) was an ancient Greek city located near the eastern coast of the peninsula of Chalkidice, which is now part of the Greek province of Central Macedonia. It is chiefly known for bei ...

(near

Olympias Olympias ( grc-gre, Ὀλυμπιάς; c. 375–316 BC) was a Greek princess of the Molossians, and the eldest daughter of king Neoptolemus I of Epirus, the sister of Alexander I of Epirus, the fourth wife of Philip II, the king of Macedonia a ...

Toroni Toroni ( grc, Τορώνη, ''Toróne'', modern pronunciation ''Toróni'') is an ancient Greek city and a former municipality in the southwest edge of Sithonia peninsula in Chalkidiki, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of ...

Pyrgadikia Pyrgadikia ( el, Πυργαδίκια) is a Greek village in the Chalkidiki peninsula. It is located in the south-east part of Chalkidiki (approximately 110 km south-east of Thessaloniki), built on the coast of Siggitikos bay (part of Aegean s ...

, Aphytos, Polygyros,

Ierissos Ierissos ( el, Ιερισσός) is a small town on the east coast of the Akti peninsula in Chalkidiki, Greece. It is located 160 km from Thessaloniki, and 10 km from the border of the Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain, or M ...

Stratoni Stratoni ( el, Στρατώνι) is a community of 1057 inhabitants (2011 census), situated on the north-eastern coast of the Chalkidiki peninsula, in Northern Greece. It is part of Aristotelis (municipality), Aristotelis municipality and the munic ...

, as also from the ancient city of

Olynthos Olynthus ( grc, Ὄλυνθος ''Olynthos'', named for the ὄλυνθος ''olunthos'', "the fruit of the wild fig tree") was an ancient city of Chalcidice, built mostly on two flat-topped hills 30–40m in height, in a fertile plain at the h ...

. Museum is currently closed for complete reconstruction. The Archaeological Museum of Polygyros was closed in January 2012 and reconstruction began in May 2012. Completion of reconstruction is expected sometime in summer 2014. The most important exhibits are an unfinished

kouros kouros ( grc, κοῦρος, , plural kouroi) is the modern term given to free-standing Ancient Greek sculptures that depict nude male youths. They first appear in the Archaic period in Greece and are prominent in Attica and Boeotia, with a less ...

of the Archaic period, weapons and jewellery of the Late Archaic and Classical periods, a marble head of

Dionysos In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...

from ancient Aphytos (4th century BC), a black-figure column crater from Vrasta (late 6th century BC), and two marble grave statues from the heroön at Stratoni (1st century BC). Particularly important are the finds from the city and the cemetery of Olynthos, of the Archaic and Classical period, because they give a full picture of the everyday activities and the public life of that time. The museum has hosted an exhibition entitled 'Three Colonies of Andros in Chalcidice: Sane, Akanthos, Stageira since 1998. Among many other things, it includes three standing or kneeling statues of Nike from the roof of a temple of the 6th century BC, which was originally at Sane and was later incorporated into the urban complex of

Ouranoupolis Ouranoupoli ( el, Ουρανούπολη, lit=Sky City, formerly ''Ouranopolis'') is an ancient city and a modern village in Chalcidice. The village is today called Ouranoupoli. Location The village of Ouranoupoli is situated on the coastlin ...

. Thanks to the exhibition, the Polygyros Museum won the 16th Directorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities' Museum of the Year Award in 1998.

Gallery

File:Macedonian_Museums-41-Arx_Polygyrou-179.jpg, A Statue of the Herron at Stratoni File:Macedonian_Museums-41-Arx_Polygyrou-180.jpg, Interior view File:Macedonian_Museums-41-Arx_Polygyrou-181.jpg, Clay Members of the Sanctuary of Ammon Zeus at Afytos

Attribution

External links

Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism - in Greek only
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Chalkidiki