The Byzantine & Christian Museum

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An elaborate outline incised into the wood, separating the unpainted background from the Nativity scene, indicates perhaps that this icon once adorned with gold or silver.

Two tall trees stand guard in front of Athens' Byzantine and Christian Museum.

A short walk from Athens' Syntagma (Constitution) Square, The Athens Byzantine and Christian Museum lies half-hidden among trees, at 22 Leoforos Vasilissis Sophias (Queen Sophia Boulevard).

The Museum is housed in a arcaded 1848 mansion, that of the Duchess of Placentia, and it's almost a required stop for a visitor to the Greek capital.

The Museum exhibits — mainly religious artifacts of the Early Christian, Byzantine, Medieval, post-Byzantine and later periods — include icons, mosaics, wood carvings, sculpture, wall paintings, and manuscripts — and at least two representations of The Nativity, in marble and tempera on wood.