The Museum of Asiatic Art

The museum, unique in Greece, is housed in the Palace of St. Michael and St. George. It contains a collection of thousand of pieces dating from Neolithic Age to 19th century.

The major part of the museum's exhibits come from the private collection of the Greek diplomat Grigorios Manos, consisting of 10,000 pieces which he donated to the Greek state in 1928. In 1974 the collection was enriched by the donations of the Greek ambassador N. Chatzivasiliou and the diplomats I. Siniosoglou and P. Almanachou.

The Chinese collection consists of Chinese art's items from the Shang period (1500 - 1027 BC) to the Sung dynasty (960 - 1279 AD), bronze vessels, funerary offerings, bronze ware of the Sung and Ming dynasties, paintings, coins, seals and various objects made of semi-precious stones. Also you can see some furniture fabrics and costumes of the same periods.

The museum's Japanese collection contains various Neolithic tools and arms, suits of Samurai knights armour, ceramic statues, miniatures, wooden masks of the 'No' theatre, as well as silk and rice paper kakemonos.

Also housed here are interesting art items from Pakistan, Nepal, Thailand, Tibet and Korea. These include wooden relieves from India, religious paintings from Tibet, Siamese sculptures, bronze sculptures from India and a series of stone reliefs from Gandhara, an ancient Province in Pakistan, showing a clear Hellenistic influence.