Museum of Prehistoric Thera, Santorini (must see)

The Museum of Prehistoric Thera allows one to take a step back in time to explore ancient civilizations. The exhibition hall’s collection comes from excavations of ancient Akrotiri and other sites around the Aegean Islands. If you have a strong interest in the prehistoric, this is the place for you. The exhibition hall opened in 2000.

The museum’s collection is organized into four areas, research, geology, the history of the island from the early 17th century BC, and the mature Late Cycladic I period. Although the gallery is very small, it is very well organized and manages to present an interesting mix of artifacts.

Pottery cups, plant fossils, jewelry, jars, marble figures, and plaster casts of furniture, household equipment, tools, and weapons are some of the many items that you will see. Two recommend items to not miss are the frescoes that show Minoans gathering saffron stamens from blooming crocuses and the painted swallows that migrated to the cliffs each year. Other impressive items include wall paintings of the Ladies and Papyri and the Blue Monkeys.

Why You Should Visit:
To enjoy what many experts rated as one of the most important museums in the world since it uniquely shows ordinary everyday life in an Ancient city and civilization buried 3700 years ago, almost 1800 years before Pompei! Everything this museum houses demonstrates how advanced and artistic this ancient civilization was, before being displaced by a major eruption of the island's volcano.

Tip:
Highly recommended in combination with a visit to the archaeological excavations in Akrotiri, where the objects were dug out. You can purchase combination tickets to visit this museum as well as the Akrotiri site.