The history of the Museum

1906 - 1907: Bishop Neilos (Smyrniotopoulos) donates a plot of land at Piali (modern day Alea) to the Archaeological Society at Athens for the construction of the Archaeological Museum of Tegea. The Society accepts the donation and proceeds to the approval of the construction cost of the building.

1909: Konstantinos Romaios, with the support of the Archaeological Society at Athens, proceeds to the completion of the museum building and the creation of the exhibition.

1935 - 36: The roof of the museum collapses. Antiquities are damaged. Markelos Mitsos, the curator of the antiquities at the time, undertakes and carries out the difficult task of the repair works and the reorganization of the exhibition. At that time gallery no.4 is built.

1941: Apokrypsis: The exhibits are buried in the museum floor (03/04/1941). The German invasion is imminent.

1967 - 1968: Extensive repair works at the Archaeological Museum of Tegea begin, under the supervision of Angelos Delivorias, curator of antiquities at the time, and the architect of the Department of Antiquities and Restoration of the Ministry of the Presidency of the Government, Dionysios Triantafyllidis.

1990: Attempted burglary at the Archaeological Museum of Tegea.

1992: A burglary occurs at the Archaeological Museum of Tegea. Among the antiquities stolen is the famous head of Telephus, a Skopas’ original masterpiece.

1994: Eight of the stolen exhibits are recovered and returned to the museum.

1998: The marble head of Asclepius and the relief that depicting Dionysus, Artemis and Heracles are recovered and returned to the museum.

2005: The Archaeological Museum of Tegea is integrated in the Operational Program "Culture" of the 3rd Community Support Framework (CSF). Building upgrade project starts.

2011 - 2013: The re-exhibition project of the Archaeological Museum of Tegea is integrated in the Operational Program "Western Greece - Ionian Islands" of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF).