Drawing on the public debates on the location of the new site museum exhibiting the sculptures and other artefacts of the iconic Athenian Acropolis, the author highlights the complexity of integrating a new site‐specific museum to a historically charged urban monumental and cultural landscape. By presenting 13 alternative viewpoints on the topic of this museum's location together with the respective museological concepts debated during the planning stage, this paper delineates the various conceptual hierarchies on the notions of ‘context’ and ‘content’ in the relationship between the museum and its cultural landscape.

Greek archaeological museums and collections form a dense and homogeneous network nationwide, incorporated in the administrative structure of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports. They depend upon the public authorities that are responsible for the protection of the antiquities excavated, and thus operate within the rigid, centralised system of the Greek civil service whose policies affect their conceptual, institutional and organisational characteristics. The question that arises is: how do Greek archaeological museums perform in today's environment, especially in the aftermath of a 20‐year long major museum infrastructure and exhibition improvement programme? Complaints are voiced in the public sphere about museums or galleries closing due to insufficient personnel, inconvenient opening hours, closed cafés and museum shops. The default response is demands for more public funds and personnel. Although the situation worsened during the post‐2009 financial crisis, there are no signs of a political will or a consensus for policy restructuring. However, my contention here is that some actions could balance the unavoidable object‐centred understanding of heritage protection and the people‐centred vision for modern museums.