The gate of Thebes

To visit the new Archaeological Museum of Thebes is to travel through time, space and myth. The journey is much longer and the experience much greater than the one-hour drive from Athens would suggest. This is not only because of the museum and its great exhibition ranging from Boeotia's prehistory right up to the establishment of the modern Greek state. Nor is it simply the course that the visitor follows between the antiquities and the way they are grouped, which present Thebes and Boeotia through all their turbulent history since the first traces of humans in the area. The journey from Athens, the drive through the city, the cool wind on the hill on which the city is built, looking on the fertile plain among the mountains and ancient marshes, place the visitor firmly in his own place and time. But they also make him a part of history, like the stones and sculpted marble looted...

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