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The Museum of Greek Folk Musical Instruments in Athens

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By Santorini Dave

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Museum gallery with traditional Greek instruments displayed

The Museum of Greek Folk Musical Instruments in Athens houses over a thousand traditional instruments from Greece.

Tickets: Purchase at the museum.

The Museum of Greek Folk Musical Instruments is a vast collection of about 1,200 Greek musical instruments that date from the 18th century up to the present day. It represents the culmination of decades of study by the musicologist Fivos Anoyanakis and is housed in the 1842 mansion built in 1840 of General Yiorgos Lassanis, a hero of the War of the Greek Independence.

There are 3 floors to the museum, with objects displayed according to instrument type. There are headphones and videos set up throughout the museum for visitors to enjoy musical samples and hear the different instruments displayed. Among other distinctly Greek sounds on display are the gaïda (Greek goatskin bagpipes) and the wooden planks used by priests on Mount Athos to call prayer.

Adjacent to the museum is a research center with archives and a lecture hall, as well as a museum shop. During the summer, musical performances are often held in the garden. Located in Plaka near the Roman Agora, about a 300-meter walk from Monastiraki Square and metro station.

Museum of Greek Folk Musical Instruments Hours and Information

  • Hours: Wednesday to Sunday 8:30am to 3:30pm, last entrance at 3:10pm. Closed Tuesdays. The museum is closed on January 1, Orthodox Easter Sunday, May 1, and December 25 & 26.
  • Website: odysseus.culture.gr
  • Location: Diogenous 1
  • Telephone: +30 21 0325 0198
  • Admission Fee: 2€
  • Free Entry: Children under 5, diabled visitors. Free admission for all visitors on March 6, April 18, May 18, the last weekend of September, October 28, and every first Sunday of the month from November through March.
  • Parking: Street parking, nearby pay lots.
  • Nearest Metro: Monastiraki

Museum of Greek Folk Musical Instruments

Grafitti-covered yellow neoclassical-style building with Green shutters

The Museum of Greek Folk Musical Instruments is located in the Athens Plaka neighborhood, near the Roman Agora.

Traditional Greek drums on display in a museum

The collection here comprises over a thousand traditional instruments, arranged by type over three floors.

Traditional Greek flutes displayed in a museum case

Traditional goatskin pipes in a museum case, next to a photo of a man playing the same type of pipes

Black and white photos of old men in Greece playing the horn

Room of traditional Greek instruments in museum display cases

Greek Bazoukis on display in a museum case

Black and white photos of people playing stringed instruments

Greek lyres on display in a museum case

Mural of a man playing a guitar

View through a stone archway to a room with musical intstruments in display cases

Traditional Greek goat bells in a display case

Large photo of a monk calling others to prayer using a wooden board, on which two of the boards are displayed

Primitive and children's instruments in a museum display case

Colorful museum gallery in which instruments are displayed

Greek instruments behind glass

Cafe table and chair on a sunny terrace of a yellow building with green shutters

Grassy courtyard lined with wooden benches

Traditional music concerts are often held in the summer months in the museum’s garden courtyard.


Open green doorway to a yellow grafitti-clad building with a motorcycle parked in front

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Santorini Dave I'm Santorini Dave. I started this site in 2011 with a short article on tips for visiting Santorini with kids. We're now a small team of writers and researchers dedicated to providing the best travel content on the internet. We focus on Santorini, Mykonos, Athens, and Greece, offering recommendations for top hotels, neighborhoods, and family-friendly hotels worldwide. I can be contacted at dave@santorinidave.com.