National Gallery of Athens

The National Gallery, formally the Alexandros Soutsos Museum, holds the Greek national collection of painting and reopened in 2021 after a long rebuilding that roughly tripled the space. The strength is Greek art from the nineteenth century onward, the painters who worked out what a Greek national art would look like after independence, along with earlier post-Byzantine work and some western European painting.

What you actually see

• The nineteenth century Greek painters - the core of the collection.
• The post-Byzantine works - the earlier material including a Greco.
• The rebuilt galleries - the space reopened in 2021.
• The twentieth century rooms - modern Greek painting through to recent work.

When to go

April to June and September to October are the pleasant months. It is closed one day a week; check before going. Rainy days bring more people.

Honest expectations

The collection is national rather than international in scope and visitors expecting old masters will be disappointed. Labelling in English is uneven in places. It is some way from the main archaeological sites.

Nearby

The Byzantine Museum is nearby, and the National Garden is west.