Maria Callas Museum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Μουσείο Μαρία Κάλλας | |
 | |
 Museum's façade, 2024 | |
 | |
| Established | 2023 |
|---|---|
| Location | 44 Mitropoleos Street, Athens, Greece |
| Coordinates | 37°58′32″N 23°43′51″E / 37.9755°N 23.7308°E |
| Type | Biographical museum |
| Owner | Municipality of Athens |
| Website | https://mariacallasmuseum.gr/en/ |
The Maria Callas Museum is a biographical museum dedicated to the renowned Greek soprano Maria Callas. It opened on 26 October 2023, and is situated near Syntagma Square at 44 Mitropoleos Street in Athens, Greece.
In 2000, the Municipality of Athens took part at an auction of Callas' personal objects, thus initiating a small Callas-themed collection, with the initial prospect of creating an exhibition for the 2004 Summer Olympics.[1] In 2010 under the mayorship of Nikitas Kaklamanis, the Municipality of Athens bought a three storey neoclassical building of the interwar period, previously the Royal Hotel, situated on 44 Mitropoleos Street, for 7 million euros.[2] Three years later, a previous plan to house a theatrical museum at the building failed, and thus the idea for transferring the Callas collection there was born.[2] The related museologic study by Erato Koutsoudaki, Andromache Gazi and Alexandros Charkiolakis was first presented in 2014.[2] Eventually, the Maria Callas Museum was opened a decade later by Athens' mayor Kostas Bakoyannis on 26 October 2023.[3][4] For the 2023–2028 period, its administration was assigned to the administrative board of the Technopolis cultural venue.[5]
