Museum in Athens proves Ancient Greek technology was way ahead of its time

The Kotsanas Museum of Ancient Greek Technology in Kolonaki, Athens, features more than 100 inventions, which prove that the Ancient Greeks were way ahead of their time, as they had created amongst other things, an analogue computer, an alarm clock and automatic fire doors.

The unique Museum aims to highlight the relatively unknown aspect of ancient Greek civilisation and to prove that the technology of the ancient Greeks just before the end of the ancient Greek world was very similar to the beginning of the modern world.

Set in a unique historic Art Nouveau building (which once belonged to the family of Queen Aspasia Manos, wife of Alexander I), visitors have the unique opportunity to get to know a relatively unknown aspect of ancient Greek culture through the exhibition "The Hi-Tech Inventions of Ancient Greeks", which includes about 100 selected exhibits from the robot-servant and the "cinema" of Philon to the automotive-puppet show of Heron, and from the hydraulic clock of Ktesibios to the Antikythera calculating mechanism.

The technology of the ancient Greeks is relatively unknown, just as is their incredible performance in this field. The present exhibition of ancient Greek technology at the Museum includes approximately 300 operating models of ancient Greek inventions. The ancient Greek technological marvel (from the robot - servant of Philon to the cinema of Heron and from the automatic clock of Ktesibios to the analog computer of Antikythera) covers the period from 2000 BC until the end of the ancient Greek world. All were constructed by Kostas Kotsanas, through 22 years of extensive research and study.

The bolts and nuts, gears and rules, pulleys and belts, sprockets and chains, block and tackles and winches, hydraulic controllers and valves are just some of the inventions of the ancient Greeks which were the foundations of their complex technology.

The exhibits are accompanied by rich audio-visual material (in Greek and English), such as explanatory labels and giant posters with a lot of information, detailed diagrams, photos, and complete bibliographical references, while many of the exhibits are interactive.

Many of the exhibits and studies, upon which the constructions were based, have been presented at international conferences and exhibitions, while several temporary exhibitions of the museum have been held in both Greece and abroad (from neighbouring Cyprus to distant Australia).

A: 6 Pindarou & Akadimias Street, Kolonaki, Athens

*Source: Kotsanas Museum of Ancient Greek Technology