The Permanent Exhibition of the Museum

The Athens Olympic Museum’s exhibit identity is characterized by a balanced mix of exhibits, emotions, tokens and memorabilia that trigger the visitors and raise their interest at every step. The Museum revives the History of the Games through the architectural prism of modernism and the minimalism of the interior designs and decoration. The clean lines and bright materials showcase the unrivalled vivacity of the collection. Thanks to technology, the visitors embark on an exciting journey through the past and present. The race starts in the Antiquity. Based on a rich collection of physical, digital and interactive exhibits, the Museum narrates the history of the Olympic Movement, from its birth to the modern glamorous events.

The Athens Olympic Museum’s Permanent Exhibition is an integrated collection but still consists in thematic modules, each with a complementary role, passing the baton all around.

It starts with a prominent narrative approach that goes through time and Mythology, History and facts: From the beginning of the Olympic Games to date, escalating through time and passing through century-old eras. There are three main Greece-centric milestones: Birth (Ancient Olympia), Revival (Athens 1896) and Return of the Olympic Games to Greece (Athens 2004). In between, there were the Intercalated Games in 1906, also in Athens, which also played a part in the evolution of the Olympic Games.

After that, tribute is paid to the Principles and Values, the structure and purposes of the International Olympic Movement, the Organizations and Institutions related to the Olympic Games and, naturally, the visionaries who gave them new life. Through all this, the ideal of world Peace, the measure of truce as a cultural imperative worth fighting for, the Sports and Athletes, the Greek Olympic and Paralympic Champions and, finally, the Game, are omnipotent: this is a universal concept applicable not only to stadium tracks but also to the arena of daily life. The Athens Olympic Museum’s design was in fact inspired by this concept of struggle, Man’s constant effort to surpass himself in all the sectors of his life, as an individual, as a group, as a team, as a society. For this reason, the Museum contains a complete space exclusively dedicated to the Paralympic Games and athletes with disabilities who have surpassed themselves.

Through its overall operation, the Athens Olympic Museum wishes to promote Greece’s role and assistance in the development of the modern Olympic Movement, and it aims at inspiring the visitors in order to fight for a better tomorrow in each sector.

The Athens Olympic Museum fully utilizes the new technologies for the exhibits presentation, making an interesting, multi-level and integrated tour of the sites. It offers rich audiovisual material ranging from videos, animation, interviews and graphic displays, to display screens and interactive applications, providing the visitor with a spark that triggers emotions. All these elements, as well as the Augmented Reality futuristic applications, transform the flashback through time into an enchanting journey through History and the universal values of the planet: the big records and unprecedented thrills; the past, present and future. In addition, the Museum adopts techniques of learning through entertainment, offering a series of exhibitionary and interpretative means, exhibit copies from international collections, interactive (hybrid and digital) exhibits, and facilities with original tokens and relics, which escalate from the ancient past to the phantasmagoric present, and constitute a truly unique experience.