Acropolis Museum Ranked Among World’s Most Visited for 2024
Acropolis Museum Ranked Among World’s Most Visited for 2024
The Acropolis Museum, home to some of the world’s most important antiquities, has been one of the most visited museums across the globe for 2024, according to an international visual arts publication.
The Acropolis Museum is placed 33rd globally, having been visited by 2,000,312 people, according to The Art Newspaper, three spots down from 2023. However, the museum has seen a five percent increase in the number of visitors compared to 2023 and a 14 percent increase compared to 2019—the last year before the world shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Top of the list for yet another year is the Louvre Museum in Paris with 8.7 million visitors, followed by the Vatican Museum with 6.8 million visitors, the British Museum with 6.4 million visitors and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art with 5.7 million visitors.
Israel’s Museum in Jerusalem saw the biggest increase in visitors for 2024 (68 percent) while Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil in Belo Horizonte witnessed the biggest decrease (-29 percent).
According to UNESCO’s latest figures, the estimated total number of museums worldwide is about 104,000, with the majority of them (61 percent) found in Western Europe and North America.
The Acropolis Museum, one of the most visited in the world, stands out among other museums in Athens
The Acropolis Museum is one of the many in Athens, a city that offers museum lovers a wealth of choices to discover some of Greece’s unique cultural heritage.
It marked its thirteenth anniversary in January 2025, and is located a mere 330 meters (1,000 feet) from the famed hill of the same name.
The museum, one of the ten best in the world according to Trip Advisor, was designed by architects Bernard Tschumi and Michael Photiadis, in a way that it offers a striking panoramic view of the archaeological sites from which its exhibits came.
The much-awarded museum is now home to more than three thousand exhibits from the ancient Athenian citadel known as the Acropolis.
On the third level, a rectangular court, the Parthenon marble sculptures are depicted just as they would have been arranged approximately 2,500 years ago in the Parthenon.
Of the almost countless priceless artifacts in the museum, the Parthenon Marbles that remained atop the Parthenon after Lord Elgin illegally removed the rest in the early 1800s, along with the five must-see Caryatids (or Kore, meaning young woman or daughter in Greek), stand out from all the others.
The National Archaeological Museum is another must-see for anyone who wants to delve into the farthest depths of Greek history and art. With more than 20,000 artifacts on display, it covers 8,000 square meters of exhibition space and is housed in a 19th-century neoclassical building. Highlights include Mycenaean antiquities and restored Santorini frescoes.
The Benaki Museum of Greek Culture in the heart of Athens offers a visual journey through history and art, with Greece at its center. It showcases a fascinating collection ranging from pre-historic to ancient Greek and Roman art to Chinese, Korean and Islamic art as well as modern pieces.
The Museum of Cycladic Art on the other hand, houses a diverse collection of over 3,000 artifacts, centering on the Cycladic art of the third millennium BC. It offers fascinating insights into ancient Aegean and Cypriot heritage, with special exhibits on Cypriot art and ancient daily life.