National Historical Museum

The National Historical Museum of Athens has occupied the Old Parliament Building on Stadiou Street since 1960, a neoclassical structure designed by the French architect Francois Boulanger in 1858 for the reign of King Otto. It traces Greek history from the fall of Constantinople in 1453 through the Second World War, with particular emphasis on the War of Independence of 1821. In front of the entrance, the monumental bronze of the freedom fighter Theodoros Kolokotronis on horseback, cast by sculptor Lazaros Sochos in 1900, watches the street. Vitrines inside hold Byron's helmet and sword from Missolonghi in 1824, the original banner of Lykourgos Logothetis from the siege of Tripolitsa and the personal effects of Captain Hadji Michalis. The Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece, founded in 1882, runs the museum. Admission is about five euros, free on Tuesdays; it pairs well with a stroll across Syntagma Square, five minutes away.