Acropolis among Greek museums reopening

ATHENS — The Acropolis Museum has joined museums across the country to again welcome visitors last week with necessary guidelines after being closed for three months due to COVID-19 and Greece’s lockdown.

“Restarting the museum’s operation for the public will be a challenge, as the infectious disease has not yet disappeared and health-related protective measures will certainly be strict,” Dimitrios Pandermalis, president of the Acropolis Museum, said at a news briefing on Thursday.

The Acropolis celebrated its 11th anniversary on June 20. Pandermalis said in an e-mail that the museum has taken all necessary infectioncontrol measures and is ready to carry on its “mission”.

The Acropolis Museum has become a major tourist attraction since it opened on June 20, 2009.

According to figures released on Thursday, over 1.28 million visitors have enjoyed its exhibits from June 2019 to June 2020. That includes more than 20,000 Chinese.

In 2019, the museum participated in the loan of displays for four major exhibitions organized in Greece and abroad.

Among them was the portrait of Alexander the Great, which was presented in the exhibition, The Joint Exhibition of Asian Civilization, at the National Museum of China in Beijing from May until August 2019, Pandermalis says.

Visitor arrivals declined significantly in the winter amid the outbreak until the museum was forced to close on March 14, he says.

Greece has one of Europe’s lowest infection rates. The latest official data shows that, up to June 15, when Greece reopened its border and some of its airports to tourism, the European nation had registered 3,134 cases of COVID-19 and 184 deaths in total.

Tourism is a key economic pillar for Greece.

Tourism contributes directly and indirectly to about 20 percent of the country’s GDP, University of Athens economics professor Nikolina Kosteletou says.

In 2019, 33 million inbound travelers arrived, which is equivalent to about three times the Greek population.

The main goal for the museum in the coming years is to enhance its exhibitions and promote collaboration with other museums, Pandermalis says.

The Acropolis Museum offered visitors half-price entry to celebrate the anniversary of its founding.