The Uniqueness of the Museum
The Tactual Museum, unique in Greece and one of the 5 Museums of its kind in the world was created in 1984, in order to provide equal opportunities to the blind and visually impaired visitors, to perceive the magnitude and richness of our cultural heritage, through the sense of Touch.
It is located in Kallithea, in the historic building of the Lighthouse for the Blind in Greece, donated by Empirikos in the 50's and it is also accessible to people with mobility and other disabilities. In 1988 it received a prize as “the European Museum of the Year” among 70 European museums and in 2004 it received a distinction for its accessibility from the Association of Friends of Museums.
Exhibits-Collections
Its specially formed halls-sections are equipped with exhibits (statues, vessels, sculptures and useful artifacts) -exact replicas of the most famous and representative exhibits of Museums of our country and abroad, such as the National Archaeological museum, the Acropolis, Delphi, Olympia, Heraklion Museums and the Museum of Cycladic Art, dated back to the Cycladic, Minoan, Geometric, Archaic, Austere Rythm, Classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods.
Αpart from its impressive ancient greek art collection, it also includes a Byzantine section which consists of woodcarved temple, epitaphs and icons, as well as a model of a Byzantine Church and several religious artifacts.
The Museum also hosts sculptures by the late and blind sculptor Petros Roukoutakis as well as works by visually impaired people from the Ceramics and Sculpture workshop of the Lighthouse for the Blind of Greece.
A Museum for All
In 2004 it opened its gates to the general public, offering to the sighted people a new way of approaching the ancient Greek culture and at the same time informing and raising awareness on issues related to the field of disability and blindness in particular.
Εver since, it has been a cultural and educational destination for thousands of visitors from all over Greece and abroad, of all ages, visually impaired or sighted who wish to to know about its offer.
Through the unique chance of tactile contact with the exhibits, offered nowhere else, the visitors can realize the essence and richness of art, greek culture and history and understand the importance of such a Museum, as a gateway to culture and history, but also to social cohesion and inclusion.
Totally accessible informational material: All the exhibits are framed with signs describing them for sighted people and of course in Βraille writing form, as well as in enlarged letters for partially sighted people. There is also an automatic tour guide that has been created in both Greek and English, so that there is full accessibility of information for everyone.
Educational Programs
Since 2004, the Museum has been implementing on a daily basis, Special Educational Programs, of interactive-experiential character for children of all educational levels (and of course from the special education field) from all over Greece, with a specially designed structure per case. It is also an educational destination for groups of students of higher educational levels, mainly from the academic field, as well the field of health and mental health.
Online Educational Programs
Always adapting to the demands of the times, on the occasion of the special data due to the pandemic, the Tactual Museum launched in 2021 its Online Educational Program, in order to compensate the difficulties from the impossibility of implementing the programs in their live form. Thus, in collaboration with schools throughout Greece, it implements its educational program with the help of technology, giving the opportunity to all children-students, even in the most remote areas, to get to know the Tactual Museum and develop social awareness to the disability of blindness. The Tactual Museum has developed for this purpose a unique Museum Kit, with rich and specially designed information-supervisory material, in terms of the implementation of a special program with the financial support and under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, as a unique educational tool.
Training Seminars
Respectively, the Tactual Museum has launched the implementation of Online Training Seminars for the reception and management of groups of blind and visually impaired visitors in cultural bodies, which are addressed to museum professionals, special education teachers and all those who deal with cultural practices and wish to communicate them to visitors with full or partial loss of vision.
Cooperation with other Museums and Cultural bodies for their elevation to accessible destinations for visually impaired visitors
At the same time, in order to raise the awareness regarding the equal access of blind people to the cultural field, the Tactual Museum develops cooperation with most of the Museums, Ephorates of Antiquities and other cultural bodies of the country and acts as a consultant for the creation of special tactile routes, while brochures are produced by the Special Braille Printing Department of the association. Through the development of wider collaborations and participation in nationwide and international conferences, the Tactual Museum communicates in every possible way its unique presence and offer.
Address:
198, Doiranis Street, 176 73-Kallithea
Contact Details:
Τel.: +30 210941 5222
Fax: +30210941 5271
e-mail: info@fte.org.gr
website: www.tactualmuseum.gr
Opening Hours:
Μonday - Friday: 09:00-14:30
Weekends: Visits can be scheduled upon request
Admission fee: 2€
There is no charge for the disabled people and their companion
Accessibility:
Full access to people with kinetic disabilities is supported by a ramp at the entrance of the building and a ladder elevator.