The Acropolis Museum was less than a mile from their hotel. Situated on the southeast flank of the great rock, the museum, which had opened in 2009, was a sleek four-story modern structure of concrete and glass, built atop and around an ongoing archaeological excavation of the remains of an ancient Athenian neighborhood. A glass-floor on the museum’s lowest level permitted visitors to “tour” the site without causing further degradation. Though controversial the modern design of the building was intended to minimize competition with the impressive culture of the ancient Athenians. The permanent collection included statuary dating back as far as the Seventh Century BCE, but mostly focused on art and artifacts from the Classical and Roman period. Conspicuously absent however was a collection
