Photo taken on Nov. 11, 2017 shows toys on display at the Benaki Museum of Toys in the southern suburb of Athens, Greece. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
The latest museum to open its doors to the public this fall, the Benaki Museum of Toys, has already won the hearts of locals who queue to enjoy a journey to childhood throughout the centuries.
Housed in a fairytale mansion resembling a castle, the Benaki museum was built in 1900 in a neo-gothic style in the southern suburb of Faliron. It overlooks the Saronic Gulf and hosts 3,500 toys and games and reconstructions from antiquity until the present day.
A wooden rocking horse that early 20th century statesman Eleftherios Venizelos had given to his grandson greets visitors at the entrance.
Mechanical toys made of wood or tin across Greece or Europe in the 19th century, dolls from Africa and America, shadow theater figures from the Mediterranean and puppets from Asia fill the halls of the mansion, which was donated by the family of late captain Athanassios Koulouras.
The collection of the museum, which is also a donation by Maria Argyriadis, a collector and researcher of toys, comprises toys and books associated with childhood across the world, literature and education as well as photographs and archives.
The collection -- which totals 20,000 items -- is considered one of the top ten in Europe. It was donated back in the 1990s by Argyriadis to the Benaki museum which founded a special department of childhood, toys and games, seeking a home.
The Greece-related objects include handmade infant and childhood toys from the 18th to the 20th century, replicas of toys from ancient Greece and toys made by retirees based on their memories of their childhood games.
The Europe-related objects consist of popular toys from the 18th to the 20th centuries, mainly from Britain, France and Germany.
Until 1991 they were crowded inside Argyriadis' home and in boxes at the basement. "Something was missing. I would tell myself that it is not right that only I and my children could admire these toys. The toys should find their way outside, to the world, for all children to see," she told Xinhua recently giving us a tour through the museum.
