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Museum of Prehistoric Thira
Museum of Prehistoric Thira
4.5
Temporarily closedClosed until further notice
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Using finds from various excavations, this museum traces the course of prehistoric Thira from the late Neolithic to the late Cycladic I period.
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- Susan T103 contributionsA “must” if you have been to AkrotiriFab value for €6. If you take your time it’s probably an hour and a half around. It is worth it just to see the wall paintings from Akrotiri and the beautiful golden ibex. If you have been / are going to Akrotiri it is an absolute must do. Most of the information is in both English and Greek and it was informative.Visited October 2023Travelled with friendsWritten 15 October 2023
- 649001361 contributionsNice little museum with rude employeesThis is a small but interesting museum with Minoan collections. It worth a quick visit. The museum opens early (8.30) but closes very early as well (15.30). The museum employee was not nice and said that I could not take a photo with a huge vase since it was "posing" (I was just standing nearby to show the vase's size)! Then he proceeded to follow us to other rooms to prevent "an offense" which was rude. The restrooms didn't work and were closed (how could it be?)Visited April 2024Travelled with familyWritten 21 April 2024
- Wei Bing LIpoh, Malaysia469 contributionsInteresting Artifacts and Findings from AkrotiriThe admission price is 6 Euros per person. This small museum showcases the findings from the archeological site of Akrotiri, not too far from Fira. Majority of the artifacts consists of clay pots, urns and ancient kitchen utensils. If you are not a history buff, you might want to give this a miss. The washrooms worked perfectly fine during my visit, it is a unisex washroom.Visited June 2024Travelled with familyWritten 11 July 2024
- Aaron KTopeka, Kansas24 contributionsWorth the time.Take a break from shopping in Fira to see some culture. Not sure why it says the museum is closed but we were there recently. Beautiful frescos and artifacts. Learn about the Minoans and the amazing culture. Well worth the visit.Visited July 2024Travelled as a coupleWritten 24 July 2024
- PTB46Stockton-on-Tees, United Kingdom170 contributionsHugely important hidden gemThis small museum is of international importance and could easily be missed. It’s worth an hour or so of your time, especially you are planning to see the excavations at Akrotiri ( we’d recommend the museum first, then the excavations, which make more sense when you’ve seen the museum’s exhibition). Contained in this modest space are some of humanity’s greatest treasures, hinting at life in Europe before the greatest Pharaohs of ancient Egypt and over 1000 years before the Parthenon was built in Athens. The artefacts and wall frescoes presented here will force you to rethink your understanding of what ‘modern society’ means. This is one of the world’s special places. Go if you can.Visited September 2024Travelled as a coupleWritten 14 September 2024
- jpcampionMountrath, Ireland162 contributionsNice small museumNice small museum. Interesting facts about the island and its volcanic history. Really nice exhibits. One staff member a bit overbearing and rechecking tickets while we already inside - unnecessary and a bit passive aggressive.Visited September 2024Travelled as a coupleWritten 25 September 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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4.5
1,976 reviews
Excellent
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189
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33
Terrible
24
voyager
London, UK21 contributions
Aug 2021 • Couples
What chaos! They sell tickets continuously, but let only about 20 people into the museum at a time meaning that a huge group of people is forced to congregate outside in the tiny entrance hall waiting for their number to be called. Controlling one covid risk by creating an even bigger one. Disaster. The museum itself is amazing - a must see.
Written 15 August 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
LakridsKaffe
United Kingdom133 contributions
Sept 2021 • Couples
We had a wonderful visit. The museum is small but very interesting, full of details and plenty of sculptures, vases and paintings to keep you walking around for an hour. It is well structured in a one-way system as to not get too crowded. I felt I learned a lot and developed an appreciation for the items on display. A definite must-see. We visited toward the end of the day and it was nice and quiet so can recommend this.
Written 21 September 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Christelle P
1 contribution
Aug 2021 • Couples
The museum is pretty but very small, big drawback: we had 1 hour of waiting in the sun being about thirty people in the line and the blonde lady at the reception lets people pass who were at the end of the line in front of everyone which is SHAMEFUL! So not normal, discrimination !!! Several people told her that the people had doubled but the lady did not want to know! Personal not at all friendly. Rather go see the museum « Lignos folklore museum » ou « archaeological muséum of thera ».
Date : 14/08/2021
Date : 14/08/2021
Written 17 August 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Graham R
Tamworth, UK116 contributions
Oct 2023 • Couples
We visited the site at Akrotiri and were 'upsold' a ticket that gave entry to this museum also. She did not say it was valid for three days only, and it did not say so on the ticket (unless in Greek, which needless to say I can't read!). When trying to use the ticket for this museum we were refused entry saying it was over three days old.
Now we visited Akrotiri o the 19th, and yesterday was the 22nd, and in my book of maths 22 - 19 = 3 !!
To be honest we are nnot wealthy people at all and I was not prepared to pay another 12 eur for the two of us, and felt quite ripped off. My wife is registered disabled and it took an effort to walk up a steep hill from the nearest car park, and I have to say the "lets screw the tourist' attitude is not necessary. Really, I would not recommend you bother with this place, the people aren't nice
Now we visited Akrotiri o the 19th, and yesterday was the 22nd, and in my book of maths 22 - 19 = 3 !!
To be honest we are nnot wealthy people at all and I was not prepared to pay another 12 eur for the two of us, and felt quite ripped off. My wife is registered disabled and it took an effort to walk up a steep hill from the nearest car park, and I have to say the "lets screw the tourist' attitude is not necessary. Really, I would not recommend you bother with this place, the people aren't nice
Written 23 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
linascorza
Washington DC, DC13 contributions
Sept 2020
Great museum. A must for anyone interested in Minoan history and art. Highlights from the collection include the frescoes from the ancient city of Akrotiri, the gold ibis statuette, and fossils of olove leaves and olives from the time the volcano erupted in the 17 C BC.
Written 4 October 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
KateAnnT
Surrey, UK205 contributions
Apr 2022
You need to see this museum AND the ruins of Akrotiri or neither makes much sense. as it is, neither of them provides enough information in terms of guide books or audio toursthat we could find. They offer an in person guide at Akrotiri that we did not take because we didn't realise there would be very little else to explain the site apart from some wall posters and a 3 minute video. The museum is the same - a few wall plaques offering minimum detail and not a lot else that we saw. However the quality of the exhibits is very high and some are very well preserved so we very much enjoyed viewing it all. Recommend you go here before you visit Akrotiri.
Written 17 April 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kevin L
Bath, UK28 contributions
Oct 2021 • Solo
It was a treat to see all the major finds from Akrotiri under one roof in a spacious modern museum. The Minoan culture deserves to be more widely celebrated. The bronze age frescos are incredible and bring to life a hitherto forgotten world until recently buried under the lava. It demonstrates how even an advanced culture can be wiped from history by an act of nature.
The museum should make it clear there are two floors, the basement being easily missed as there is no signage to guide people there.
The museum should make it clear there are two floors, the basement being easily missed as there is no signage to guide people there.
Written 9 October 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
MarcusHurley
Calne, UK10,818 contributions
Oct 2020
The Museum of Prehistoric Thira was very different to the Archeology Museum and had a lot of the finds from the excavations of ancient Thira. There was a timeline route to follow and plenty of descriptions and information in English.
The wall paintings were really quite incredible, as was the pottery. Especially taken in context that it was nearly 4000 years old and we didn't reach that level of sophistication until the Romans forced it upon us nearly 2000 years later. We spent nearly an hour there before wandering back to the hotel.
The wall paintings were really quite incredible, as was the pottery. Especially taken in context that it was nearly 4000 years old and we didn't reach that level of sophistication until the Romans forced it upon us nearly 2000 years later. We spent nearly an hour there before wandering back to the hotel.
Written 8 October 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
genibre69
London, UK5,452 contributions
Jul 2023 • Solo
Definitely not worth the €6 entrance fee. The ground floor is mostly pottery, shards and similar artifacts although the mosaics are interesting especially the blue monkeys, but only at the end of the ground floor exhibit. The subfloor however has beautiful mosaics: quite different than the Roman ones I’m accustomed to. Still, was only inside overall about max 20 minutes. Everything is translated into English and you get a mini English museum pamphlet with the admission fee. There’s no air con indeed but the museum is spacious enough and it’s not crowded so didn’t feel too hot. Toilets are out of order though which is unacceptable!
Written 10 July 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
smvNYC
New York City, NY363 contributions
Jul 2021
We spent an hour before taking the bust to Akrothiri. I think this was an excellent choice as we were able to understand a lot of what we would see next. The museum has beautifully preserved artifacts from the many archeological excavations on the island band especially from Akrotiri. The museum was following COVID practices so there were not too many visitors.
Written 15 August 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello Guys. 16/09/2020 - is museum open now? Different infirmation from different source.
Written 15 September 2020
Is it open on Sunday in the off season?
Written 13 April 2019
Officially it shall be open from 08:00/08:30-15:00 every day, except mondays or tuesdays! I wouldn't take that for granted without checking with the Museum though, esp during low season!
Written 14 April 2019
I don´t understand why soo many reviewers publish reviews on the other museum, The Archaeological Museum, here?
Almost all the negative reviews here are about the small and oldfashioned Archaeological Museum (close to the Cable Car). That museum is now almost entirely closed for renovation and only a small room with a small exhibition on a french archaeologist together with a few objects is now open - But that is a DIFFERENT museum and should NOT be mistaken for The Museum of Prehistoric Thera! This page gets very confusing with all the comments regarding another museum!
Written 5 November 2018
I biglietti possono essere acquistati online? Comprandoli per questo museo, c'è anche quello per il sito archelogico do Akrotiri?
Written 17 July 2017
Non lo so, ma probabilmente no. Il problema però non si pone perché possono essere facilmente acquistati in loco, dove non ho mai visto delle file di attesa.
Written 21 July 2017
The museum is closed monday or tuesday ? we saw the both informations
Written 30 October 2016
When I was in Santorini, in may, it was closed on tuesday. No doubt. I remember it very well because at first we believed that it was like in Spain (every museum it's closed on monday) and we were about to get wrong.
Written 30 October 2016
Where can you buy the combination ticket for The Museum of Prehistoric Thera/Akrotiri?
Written 13 October 2016
Yes, there is "backyard outdoor parking" within walking distance.
I'm not allowed to post URLs here, but go to google maps, choose Earth/satellite view, and you can immediately spot the parking areas with the many cars.
Written 14 September 2016
What are the opening days and hours at the very end of October?
Written 19 October 2015
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