Greece’s National Gallery is closing in March 2013 until Christmas time in 2015 for a major revamp during which its space will be doubled and the building modernized.

Changes will include a glass facade, an additional floor in the back building, accessibility ramps to move from one floor to another,extra space for the permanent and temporary exhibitions, a 450-seat auditorium, spacious warehouses, large basements, modern conservation laboratories, and a restaurant overlooking the Acropolis and the Lycabettus Hill.

Details of the plan were presented yesterday at a press conference attended by Alternate Culture Minister Kostas Tzavaras, Culture ministry secretary general Lina Mendoni and Gallery director Marina Lambraki-Plaka.


Works are scheduled to begin in April and the cost is expected to reach € 45 million, 32 mln of which will come from National Strategic Reference Framework funding and € 13 mln from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.