The Man and Tools Museum in Athens

Greece › Athens › Museums › Museum on Panos Street: Man and Tools
Updated: August 16, 2022
By Santorini Dave

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Old tools displayed artfully in a museum

The Man and Tools Museum is small, but offers interesting insight into the Greek pre-industrial era.

Tickets: Purchase at museum.

The Museum on Panos Street: Man and Tools is an annex of the Museum of Modern Greek Culture that’s well worth a quick visit if you’re in the Plaka area and looking for a break from shopping or eating. (The main Museum of Modern Greek Culture closed for renovation and relocation in 2015; it will eventually find its home on Monastiraki Square.) Opened in 2008 and housed in an early 19th-century house, this collection includes pre-industrial tools and products of traditional labor and depicts the working life of Greeks, mostly after the war of independence to the mid-1900’s.

Over two well-arranged floors, old tools, artifacts, photos, and memorabilia from Greek villages before the era of mass production are displayed. On the walls are first hand accounts and testimonials from the people who made and used these tools. Visitors get a sense of what day to day life might have been like back then and how much the world has evolved since the onset of industry. Interactive exhibits invite guests to explore a world gone by, yet not too long ago – great for kids. Located in Plaka, about a 400-meter walk from Monastiraki Square and metro station.

Man and Tools Museum Hours and Information

  • Hours: Wednesday to Monday 8:30am – 3:30pm. Closed Tuesdays.
  • Website: mnep.gr
  • Location: 22 Panos St.
  • Telephone: +30 210 321 4972
  • Admission Fee: General Admission 2€.
  • Free Entry: People aged 18 and under. March 6, April 18, May 18, June 5, September 27, the last weekend of September, Sundays between November 1 and March 31 the first Sunday of every month except for July, August and September (when the first Sunday is holiday, then the second is the free admission day.)
  • Parking: Street parking.
  • Nearest Metro: Monastiraki

House on Panos Street: Man and Tools

Pink building with light blue shutters, flying a Greek flag

The small but interesting Man and Tools Museum in Athens is located in Plaka, midway between the Acropolis and Monastiraki Square.

Tools in a museum display, surrounded by signage

It is an annex of the Museum of Modern Greek Culture, and houses a collection of tools from the pre-industrial era.

Farming implements displayed in a museum gallery

Small olive press displayed next to other home tools

Room with tools displayed and photos on the wall

Photo of a Greek actor, with a quote by him explaining where his family's name comes from

Black and white photo of young men on a farm truck

Tools displayed on shelves, with tags explaining their use

Black and white photo of young women working in a Greek courtyard

Old scales displayed alongside a black and white photo of a winemaker using them to weigh grapes

Shoemakers tools displayed alongside a black and white photo of a cobbler at work

Old tools on display in museum cases

Small terrace outside of a pink building, with a cafe table and a potted tree

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About Santorini Dave

Santorini Dave Author Bio. Santorini Dave was started in 2011 by a guy who loved Greece, travel, and great hotels. We're now a small team of writers and researchers on a mission to deliver the most helpful travel content on the internet. We specialize in Santorini, Mykonos, Athens, and Greece and recommend the best hotels, best neighborhoods, and best family hotels in top destinations around the world. We also make hotel maps and travel videos. I can be contacted at dave@santorinidave.com.