© Benaki Museum, Athen
Byzantium & the West
A fascinating (Hi)story
In 2018, Schallaburg Castle is recalling a fascinating story from the past. It is about prejudices and the thirst for knowledge, about greed and fascination, about two worlds that were so intimately interwoven and yet so far apart. It is the story of Byzantium and the West. We put to sea with pilgrims, merchants and crusaders, meet Charlemagne at his coronation in Rome, and accompany the Byzantine Princess Theodora on her way from Constantinople to Austria; we meet French knights looking for treasures and adventures in Greece, and Byzantine scholars who were acclaimed in Italy; we expose charlatans and look at the wheelings and dealings of relic traders.
Exhibits from around the globe make “Byzantium & the West” a unique exhibition indeed, including pieces from renowned collections such as the Paris Musée de Louvre and the French National Library, the Treasury of San Marco in Venice, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, and the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens.
The show is an exciting expedition for all age groups, with interactive games, booklets and audio stations making the journey to the medieval Mediterranean an adventure for the whole family.
The sciences enter the limelight! A large team of scientists made sure the exhibition is based on the latest research findings. They will answer any questions you might have regarding Byzantium.