The new Archaeological Museum of Patras opened in 2009. Built with 8,000 square metres of interior spaces, it is the second-largest museum of Greece. The area surrounding the museum comprises a 500-square-metre pool, a shiny metallic dome and greenery. In the near future, the vacant land next to the museum will be turned into a cultural park.
It houses collections about the history of Patras and the surrounding area from prehistory to the end of Roman times. The museum has four thematic sections, three of which are permanent and one is periodic. The periodic section will be hosting various exhibitions around the year. According to the archaeologists of the 6th Antiquity Conservancy, the 70% of the items exhibited are seeing the light of day for the first time in the past thirty years.
The first and bigger section, exhibits items of everyday life, working tools, cosmetics and jewellery from Mycenaean, Ancient, Hellenistic and Roman Greece, with the oldest being of 17th century BC. Apart from these items, this section includes partly reconstructed Roman residences, in natural size by the original materials. In the same place, there is also a part of one of the biggest mosaic collections in Greece, consisting of 14 Roman mosaics covering a total of 250 square metres, vast majority of which are vertically placed. Most of these mosaics were discovered in ruins of luxurious urban residences in the city of Patras.
The section of the Public Life covers the period from 1500 B.C. until the 4th century A.D. There are maps of the Roman territory that frame the information material for the monumental topography of the city. There are exhibits from the Roman period, mainly related to commercial activities, social and administrative organization, cults and entertainment of the inhabitants.
The section of necropolis is dedicated to tombs and items discovered in Patras and the greater region of Achaia. It presents the burial architecture and its evolution from the prehistoric till the Roman times, not only by the items found but with the reconstruction of various types of tombs. In fact there are three totally reconstructed tombs, two Mycenaean and one Roman at their natural sizes with the skeletons and their gems. In the same place there's also information about the burial customs and beliefs, and the burning of the dead in Ancient Greece.
In the periodic section of the museum, various exhibitions will be taking place around the year. The first exhibition, which lasts till the end of November, is dedicated to 'Plants and their Culture in Europe' from the ancient world till today. Future plans include a sketch gallery and a lectures schedule.
References:The ancient Argos Theater was built in 320 BC. and is located in Argos, Greece against Larissa Hill. Nearby from this site is Agora, Roman Odeon, and the Baths of Argos. The theater is one of the largest architectural developments in Greece and was renovated in ca 120 AD.
The Hellenistic theater at Argos is cut into the hillside of the Larisa, with 90 steps up a steep incline, forming a narrow rectilinear cavea. Among the largest theaters in Greece, it held about 20,000 spectators and is divided by two landings into three horizontal sections. Staircases further divide the cavea into four cunei, corresponding to the tribes of Argos A high wall was erected to prevent unauthorized access into the theatron and may have helped the acoustics, but it is said the sound quality is still very good today.
Around 120 CE, both theaters were renovated in the Roman style.