Event: Greece - Corfu

Archaeological Museum of Corfu

When:	Daily
Where:	Archaeological Museum of Corfu
Costs:	€3; concessions €2; under 18s, Greek students & some Sundays free
Opening Hours:	Tue-Sun 8.30am-3pm

Built between 1962 and 1965, the Archaeological Museum of Corfu was originally constructed to house sculptures from the temple of Artemis - one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. In 1994 more rooms were added and now it also contains finds from recent excavations in Corfu Town.

The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was built in honour of the Greek goddess of hunting, nature and fertility, Diana. "I have seen the walls and Hanging Gardens of ancient Babylon," wrote Philon of Byzantium, "the statue of Olympian Zeus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the mighty work of the high Pyramids and the tomb of Mausolus. But when I saw the temple at Ephesus rising to the clouds, all these other wonders were put in the shade." Although the temple itself is long gone, some of its relics can be seen here in Corfu.

Some of the other important exhibits include the Lion of Menecrates, an impressive sculpture from the Archaic period, dating to the end of the 7th century BC, the base and part of the body of a late Archaic kore, found during the excavation of a pottery workshop in the area of Figareto, and finds from excavations at various sites on Corfu.