The Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki is one of the most important museums of Greece. The museum features a permanent exhibition of archaeological relics of Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods from the city of Thessaloniki and the wider area of the region of Macedonia. The story of the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki is similar to the city's recent history. The Ephorate of Antiquities "by the General Directorate of Macedonia" was the first service to be founded, on November 1912, only a fortnight after the city was incorporated into the Greek State. Until 1925, all antiquities found in Macedonia were gathered at the Residency (Διοικητήριο - the modern-day building of the Secretariat of Macedonia-Thrace) as well as the Ottoman Idadie School, which housed the Faculty of Philosophy of the Aristotle University. During World War I, the French Army (Armee Francaise d' Orient) was gathering antiquities initially at Karabournaki and later on at Rotonda, while the British Army would gather the antiquities they uncovered at the White Tower.

In 1925, the Yeni Cami, the new mosque, the centre of worship for the Donmeh population of the Ottoman-occupied Thessaloniki, was given to the Archaeological Service. The Yeni Cami would become the city's first Museum, as the inscription still in place on its facade indicates. In 1940 many antiquities, mainly sculptures, were buried in trenches in order to be protected from war raids. They were unearthed in 1951 and displayed for the first time in the main hall of the Archaeological Museum (Yeni Cami) in 1953.

In 1950 a large plot was designated for the erection of a new Museum, in the heart of the city, on Y.M.C.A. Square, next to the grounds of the International Fair. The project was assigned to Patroklos Karantinos, an notable Greek modernist architect.

The new Museum was inaugurated in 1962 in a grand ceremony, as part of the celebrations for the completion of 50 years since Thessaloniki's liberation, exhibiting the impressive finds from the Derveni tombs, which had been found in the same year. An exhibition of sculptures from the Archaic to the Roman era followed, designed by Giorgos Despinis, professor of Archaeology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

The marvellous finds of the Royal Tombs at Vergina revealed by professor Manolis Andronikos, which were transferred to the Museum for storage and conservation as soon as they were found, necessitated a new display pattern and required the construction of a building extension. In 1982 a new exhibition was designed to display the finds from the cemetery of Sindos. The ephor of antiquities, Aikaterini Despini was responsible for both the excavation and the exhibition. In 1985, with the completion of 2300 years since the foundation of Thessaloniki by Cassander in 315 BC, the then director of the Museum, Julia Vokotopoulou organised the first major exhibition dedicated to the city's history and archaeology.

In 1996 the first extensive exhibition on Prehistoric Macedonia took place at the Museum, below the Vergina Hall, at the new building extension (by Vogiatzis) completed in 1980. This exhibition was organised by the then director Dimitrios Grammenos and the archaeologist Maria Pappa. In 1998, when the Vergina finds were transferred back to their place of discovery to be displayed at a new museum that simulated the large burial mound of the Royal Tombs, a new exhibition was organised at the Museum of Thessaloniki, entitled "The Gold of Macedon" by Dimitrios Grammenos and the archaeologists Betina Tsigarida and Despina Ignatiadou, in order to fill the gap of the remarkable royal burial assemblages.

In 2002, through a Presidential Decree (164/2002), the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki became a separate Special Regional Service of the Ministry of Culture. At the dawn of the 21st century, modern museological needs led to an extensive renovation of the building. The Museum became accessible to the public again in 2004 with new permanent exhibitions. On September, 2006, the renovated Archaeological Museum was officially reopened with five new thematic exhibitions, under D.Grammenos and a large team of specialists. The new exhibitions, completely anthropocentric, bypassing the thread of time, has acquired a strong didactic character.

Permanent exhibitions:

5000, 15000, 200000 years ago

An exhibition for the life in prehistoric Macedonia

Chronologically, the Museum's narrative starts from the lower level, with the exhibition "5000, 15000, 200000 years ago. An exhibition for the life in prehistoric Macedonia". The exhibition deals with the ways in which the prehistoric people faced their needs since Neolithic times: agriculture, stockraising, fishing, hunting, tool-making, storage, cooking, weaving, pottery etc. The ideological concerns and the burial customs are also examined, as well as the social differentiation that occurred in Mycenaean times, and the exchanges networks of the prehistoric communities of Macedonia with other places and peoples.

An audiovisual installation completes the exhibition. In regard to the research in prehistoric Macedonia, three renowned archaeologists discuss the prehistoric household.

Towards the birth of cities

The unit "Towards the birth of cities" present material remains from settlements and cemeteries of the Iron Age (1100-700 BC), stretching from mount Athos to mount Olympos. Settlements are founded or expanded by exploiting the natural resources at Kastanas, Philadelphia, Assiros, Toumba Thessalonikis and elsewhere. At the same era, contacts intensify with southern Greece, the coast of Asia Minor and the Macedonian hinterland, while city-states of southern Greece found colonies along the Thermaic gulf and Chalkidice. The exhibition displays those settlements' cultural characteristics, as for example the possible control of agricultural products by a central power, the organisation of space into early forms of grids, the upgrade in living standards as indicated by burial offerings etc. elements which later on, at the heyday of the Macedonian kingdom, would signal the genesis of the first cities in the region.

The Gold of Macedon

The unit "The Gold of Macedon" highlights the importance of gold in ancient Macedonian culture, especially during the Archaic and Classical eras. Through unique finds that came to light during excavations of cemeteries, the exhibition describes the processes of gold mining and gold working, the decoration of gold and gilded artefacts, as well as its association with the beliefs on life and death at the time.

In addition to the permanent collection, Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki also stages temporary exhibitions and educational workshops.