Tegea Museum reopens

The rural sanctuaries lie at the center of the narration. Among these, the most important is the sanctuary of Athena Alea - famous all over the Peloponnese.

Gallery 1 exhibits artifacts dating from Neolithic up to the Archaic period are exhibited. The exhibition narrative begins with the significant prehistoric sites of the Neolithic Era and the Bronze Age and proceeds in historical times with the significant rural sanctuaries of Tegeatis. The latter played an important part in the process of polis formation from the Early Geometric period up to the 6th century BC. The development of monumental architectural forms (doric architectural elements - tegean anta-capitals) is associated with the emergence of a strong pole of power and the emergence of the polis (city-state)

A peculiar category of monuments, the so-called Arcadian Herms, is exhibited in Gallery 2.The Arcadian Herms, private votive offerings to sanctuaries, constitute abstract representations of gods or deities. They have been discovered only in Tegea.

Gallery 3 shows the evolution of the polis from the Classical period up to the Roman times is narrated. Many different aspects of the city's life are presented: economy (monetarization, weights and measures, trade), cults, athletic contests - festivals, the world of the dead and the hereafter.

The story reaches its climax in Gallery 4. The sanctuary of Athena Alea, around which the polis of Tegea was formed, is presented. Its development from the Geometric up to the Hellenistic period is narrated: from the very beginning to the development of monumental forms and Skopas' architectural and sculpture creations in the mid-4th century BC.

Meanwhile, there is an Outdoor Exhibition that is divided into two entities: in the entity “Public Life”, selected inscriptions are exhibited, refering to the public life in Tegea, while in the entity “The Hereafter” a set of grave stele from classical up to the Late Roman period is exhibited. The outdoor exhibition covers a period form the Late Archaic up to the Late Roman period.

History of the Museum

In 1906, Bishop Neilos (Smyrniotopoulos) donated a plot of land at Piali (modern day Alea) to the Archaeological Society at Athens for the construction of the Archaeological Museum of Tegea. The Society accepted the donation and proceeded to the approval of the construction cost of the building.

Konstantinos Romaios, with the support of the Archaeological Society at Athens, completed the museum building and the creation of the exhibition in 1909.

However, the roof of the museum collapsed in 1935 damaging antiquities. Markelos Mitsos, the curator of the antiquities at the time, undertook the difficult task of the repair works and the reorganization of the exhibition. At that time gallery no.4 was built.

In 1941, the exhibits were buried in the museum floor, as the German invasion was imminent.

Extensive repair works at the Archaeological Museum of Tegea began in 1967, under the supervision of Angelos Delivorias, curator of antiquities at the time, and the architect of the Department of Antiquities and Restoration of the Ministry of the Presidency of the Government, Dionysios Triantafyllidis.

In 1990, there was an attempted burglary at the Archaeological Museum of Tegea, while in 1992, a successful burglary robbed the museum of several exhibits including the famous head of Telephus, a Skopas’ original masterpiece. Eight of the stolen exhibits were recovered in 1994, while the marble head of Asclepius and the relief depicting Dionysus, Artemis and Heracles were recovered and returned to the museum in 1998.

The Archaeological Museum of Tegea was integrated in the Operational Program "Culture" of the 3rd Community Support Framework in 2005, heralding the beginning of the building upgrade project. The re-exhibition project of the Archaeological Museum of Tegea is integrated in the Operational Program "Western Greece - Ionian Islands" of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) in 2011.