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Azerbaijani first lady Mehriban Aliyeva visits Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens
Azerbaijani first lady, president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva has visited Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art as part of President Ilham Aliyev`s state visit to Athens.
Mehriban Aliyeva was accompanied by wife of Greek Prime Minister Georgia Samaras.
The Azerbaijani first lady was told that the museum was founded in 1986 in order to house the collection of Cycladic and Ancient Greek art belonging to Nicholas and Dolly Goulandris.
The Goulandris, members of a powerful shipping dynasty, started collecting ancient Greek artifacts in the 1960s. Their collection quickly expanded and in the 1970s it gained an international reputation thanks to the many rare Cyclad objects it contained.
The collection was first exhibited in 1978 at the Benaki Museum, and it was on display at many renowned museums worldwide, including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the British Museum in London and the Grand Palais in Paris.
The Museum's main building, erected in the centre of Athens in 1985, was designed by the Greek architect Ioannis Vikelas. In 1991, the Museum acquired a new wing, the neo-classical Stathatos Mansion at the corner of Vassilissis Sofias Avenue and Herodotou Street.
President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva signed the museum`s guest book.
