The Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki is one of the largest and finest in Greece, filled with treasures that date from prehistory until the end of antiquity. This is the place to go if you want to immerse yourself in the history and culture of Greek Macedonia, the birthplace of Alexander the Great and later a major Roman province. Marble, bronze, pottery, glass, gold, and mosaics tell the story of ancient times and ancient peoples. Here’s what those materials might reveal as you wander the Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum halls.

Carved in Marble: Statues, Tombs, and Ancient Gods

Marble is iconic, a marker of all things Greek and Roman, chosen for its durability and luminosity. This is the material of which grand buildings and statues were made, and stone carvings are highlighted here in all their glory. Gods, goddesses, and great men (and very occasionally women) were all rendered in marble. In ancient Macedonia, this included deities imported from neighboring cultures.

Marble was also a central material in crafting remembrances for the deceased. We see this in both sarcophagi …

… and more modest funerary reliefs.

Offerings to the Gods

One of the most interesting highlights of the stonework pieces at this museum is just how many small items were carved as votive offerings. Among other gods, the deities Sarapis and Isis — a healing duo — were frequent recipients of these tablets. If you see ears, it signifies a hope that the donor’s prayers might literally be “heard.”

I have questions about why the chariot in that last offering is being pulled by chickens, but the signage provided no answers.

If I had to pick a favorite marble piece, it would be this broken sundial, which was carved specifically to be read in Thessaloniki. There’s something about time set on the fierce paws of a lion that just makes me smile.

A more complicated set of sculptures are The Enchanted Ones, a set of pillars dating to the late second or third century, which local Spanish Sephardic Jews nicknamed Las Incantadas many centuries later. In the mid-nineteenth century, with Ottoman permission, a French paleographer looted the pillars (this is just one instance of French and British looting of Greek masterpieces during that period).

Despite the efforts of the Greek government to have them returned, Les Incantadas are now housed in The Louvre. Exact copies of the pillars stand in the Archaeological Museum courtyard, a difficult reminder of tensions over artwork that continue to this day.

I can see why The Louvre wants to keep these statues — they’re so fluid and lifelike — but I feel a real pang of remorse that Thessaloniki can’t have them back.

Stories in Clay: Figurines, Vessels, and Daily Life

Now we move from the sublime to the more practical. Clay is the world’s oldest material technology, first developed as early as 14,500 BC in Japan. In Macedonia, craftspeople most often shaped clay into vessels and vases to hold everything from wine and perfume to olives and grains.

Ceramics were a major trade item, and Thessaloniki’s position as the largest port in the region meant that a great deal of pottery made its way through the city.

Of course, we retain far less pottery than we do giant stone figures — pottery is more often found in shards than intact. You can see distinct cracks in the burial vessel below.

It’s a little hard to imagine, but Greeks — especially infants and children — were often buried in clay jars like these. It’s likely that the jars, called pithoi, started out as everyday home goods and then were repurposed when someone in the family passed away.

Viewing both these vessels and how they were decorated (for example, the unique design of a hound chasing a rabbit, never seen anywhere else) can give us a glimpse into how people might have lived their day-to-day lives.

Into the Metalworks: From Emblems of War to Glittering Jewelry

Metals straddled the worlds of the magnificent and the ordinary — they could be pounded into tools, pressed into coins, shaped into beads, or forged into terrifying weapons. The bronze medallion above — featuring Athena Promachos at her most warlike and fearsome — would have hung on a chariot used in parades and public appearances.

Metal was certainly worthy of the gods. Expensive and shiny, it was shaped into libation vessels, such as this brilliantly decorated phiale, used to make liquid offerings to the gods in Macedonian times.

The organic, almost floral design on that bowl reminds me so much of Art Nouveau artwork — it’s hard to believe it’s over 1,500 years old.

Silver cups, like these kantharoi, might also have been used for ritual libations. But what was good for the gods was sometimes also good for the exceedingly wealthy, and these cups may simply have been used to drink wine at fancy parties. It is easy to imagine men in togas passing them around at symposia as they ate, drank, and debated politics and philosophy.

The Gold of Macedon at the Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum

For those gold lovers out there, the museum has an enormous permanent exhibit called “The Gold of Macedon,” largely featuring riches found in burial sites in what is now northern Greece. In ancient times, Macedonia was famous for its gold, silver, and copper production — in fact, the mines in this mountainous region were instrumental in funding the rise of the Macedonian Empire.

Gold also became an important part of ancient Macedonian burial rites, as it symbolized a person’s lasting connection to all that they had achieved on earth. All sorts of precious goods would follow the deceased into the grave. These were burials on a grand scale: remains have been found of individuals laid out in pure gold face masks, wreaths, necklaces, bracelets, and pins.

Metallic grave goods took many forms, including this gilt silver Artemis-shaped casket decoration

The Gold of Macedon exhibit is all about luxury on a jaw-dropping scale, and it’s even more impressive in row after row of display windows.

The Art of Ancient Glass: Fragile Vessels

Glass has always had a wow factor, with mere sand transformed into something shimmering and precious. That bottle — and its marbled shadow — caught my eye instantly.

In ancient Macedonia, glass became a status symbol, especially since it was primarily an imported good. Indeed, glass was so highly prized before the Roman conquest that it occasionally appears alongside gold in Macedonian grave sites.

Once the Romans took over, glassware became a staple at the tables of wealthy citizens; it was the closest thing one could find to the metal vessels inlaid with semi-precious stones that only the highest officials were allowed to use. Glasseware like this would have been standard fare at symposia and other elegant banquets.

Over time, glass became less and less expensive — the Romans were expert glassmakers, and production expanded across the centuries of their rule.

Perhaps because Macedonia was not a glass production center — or perhaps glass has a nasty habit of breaking — the museum has relatively few glass pieces. But I’m always happy to stand there and marvel at the ones that have managed to survive through the ages.

Materials of the Imagination: Mosaics and Painting

Now we are entering a world of mixed materials, of stone and glass, pigments and binders. We are walking into the homes of wealthy citizens and marveling at their floor and wall decorations, or peering into the depths of their crypts.

If you lived in luxury in Roman Thessaloniki, you probably had mosaics in your house. An entryway floor might feature a depiction of Dionysus sleeping; a courtyard might have held personifications of each of the four seasons (this is Winter).

These were immediate ways to dazzle your friends when they walked in the door or sipped wine in the men’s quarters. The images were meant to inspire and impress. Dionysus and a satyr? Absolutely.

Even fish were fair game.

Mosaics weren’t only a feature in private homes; they would have been found in public baths and the palatial complex. They would later grace the walls, floors, and domes of the city’s Byzantine churches, but that takes us beyond the time period of this particular museum. Thessaloniki was home to multiple mosaic workshops, which operated from the 4th through the 7th centuries.

Romans also adorned their walls with frescoes — and while there are no examples of that specific art form in the museum, you can see an example of Macedonian painting on the interior walls of a girl’s tomb.

Even centuries later, the colors and artwork in these pieces stop me in my tracks (I’m a sucker for each and every mosaic out there — if you want to read my post on the mosaics of the Grand Basilica of Plovdiv, you’ll see what I mean). Each time I spotted one in the museum, I had to smile — and take a photo.

Final Reflections: Visiting the Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum

There is so much to love about this museum. We can start with the fantastic pieces, some of which will stop you in your tracks. The curation is easy to follow, especially in the main part of the permanent collection. The museum labels are some of the best I’ve seen in Greece, with clear, tight explanations in both Greek and English (though when you get to the Gold of Macedon section and the special exhibit, it’s back to more typical Greek museum wordiness).

The museum is also quiet — I had some rooms entirely to myself on a Friday afternoon in the high tourist season. That surprised me (and made me a little sad), because I worry that many magnificent pieces are going unnoticed. This museum deserves more love.

As a final note, the air conditioning is excellent (a true gift in the dog days of summer).

Before You Go: Tips for Visiting the Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum

• Admission: €8 for adults — very reasonable.
• Time: I spent nearly two hours wandering the halls; my friends zipped through in under an hour.
• Hours: The museum is open daily from 9:00-17:00, but check the website for extended hours on some summertime Thursdays.
• Location: The museum is about a ten-minute walk from both the White Tower and The Umbrellas by Zongolopoulos.
• Accessibility: The entire museum is fully accessible, with most of the good stuff on a single floor.
• Peace & Quiet: Even in high season, it felt pretty empty, which is great if you like to browse in peace.

Want even more while you’re in town? My Thessaloniki walking tour post will take you across the whole city.

Further Reading

• If you love archaeological museums as much as I do, you might also enjoy my posts on the Antalya & Ephesus Archaeological Museums in Turkey and the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities in the Netherlands.
• For a very different kind of collection, check out my post on the Egyptian Museum in Cairo — a museum I found myself praising and critiquing all at the same time.