Chronologically, the museum narrative begins on the lower level with the exhibition “5,000, 15,000, 200,000 years ago... An exhibition about life in prehistoric Macedonia.” This exhibition presents finds relating to the ways in which prehistoric people dealt with basic subsistence needs from the Neolithic period onward: agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing, hunting, tool construction, storage of products, cooking, weaving, pottery, etc. In addition, ideological concerns and burial customs, indications of social differentiation during the Mycenaean period, as well as the system of exchange developed by prehistoric communities in Macedonia with communities in other places are explored. In the audiovisual installation complementing this exhibition, three distinguished archaeologists discuss the prehistoric household, using as a starting-point their research on the prehistory of Macedonia.
The exhibition “Towards the birth of cities …” presents the material remains from settlements and cemeteries dating to the Iron Age (1100-700 BC) in the region extending between Mt. Athos and Olympus. At Kastana, Philadelpheia, Assiros, Toumba-Thessaloniki and elsewhere, settlements which are characterized by self-sufficiency and which controlled the sources of the region’s wealth were founded or re-founded. During the same period, contacts increased with southern Greece, the coast of Asia Minor, and the hinterland of Macedonia itself, while cities of southern Greece established colonies on the coast of the Thermaic Gulf and in the Chalkidiki. The exhibition takes note of important cultural characteristics of these settlements, as for example the probable control of agricultural products by a central authority, the organization of space on the basis of an early type of city planning, the rise in the standard of living as demonstrated by cemetery grave goods, and others. Later, during the age of the Kingdom of Macedon, these elements would signify the birth of the region’s first cities.
The permanent exhibition also includes the “Macedonia from the 7th BC until late antiquity” section, which highlights aspects of the public and private life of the ancient Macedonians. Following that, the exhibition “Thessaloniki, The Metropolis of Macedonia” recreates the unique role played by Thessaloniki during the Roman period in particular. Themes touched upon in the exhibition on Macedonia are here placed within the particular spatial framework of the city itself. Finally, the exhibition “The Gold of Macedon” presents the importance of gold for the civilization of ancient Macedonia, above all during the Archaic and Classical periods. The processes of mining and refining gold, the techniques for constructing and decorating gold and gilt objects, and the relation of the noble metal to beliefs about life and death held by people in this period are described via unique objects brought to light during the excavation of cemeteries.

Admission fee: €6