It was founded in 1927. It is the only Museum of Asian Art in Greece and it owes it to the collector of Asian art works Grigorios Manos who in 1919 decided to donate his extremely interesting and numerous collection to the Greek State with the presumption that a museum will be created in Kerkyra and specifically in the Palace of the Saints Michael and George.

Grigorios Manos donated the first 9.500 art works in 1919 and so became the director of the museum in 1927. Later N. Chatzivasiliou donated 450 art works to the museum in 1974, Ch. Chiotakis donated 341 works from his collection in the beginning of the 1980’s, and the diplomats Giannis Kollas and I. Siniossoglou who left their collection to the museum as well. Likewise Petros Almanahos left his collection in 1969.

Some of the most interesting works in the museum are the Masks from the Japanese theatre NO from the Edo period(1615-1868), the wooden works of the Japanese Kitagava Utamaro (1753-1806), the Chinese porcelain of the “green team” from the Kangsi period (1662-1722), the bronze vases from the Sang Dynasty (130 – 1028 μ.Χ.), the Greek-Buddhist sculptures of Gaddara (2nd century a.c.), the Chinese statuettes of Tang (7th– 8th century a.c), a section with a Samurai’s suits of armours (Dynasty Han. 206 b.c - 202 a.c.), the Chinese objects from jade (Dynasty Tsing 1644 – 1912) and also the Indian wooden sculptures of the 17th and 19th centuries.

The Museum is situated in the impressive Palace of Saints Michael and George, a building from English domination which was used as a Government House and a residency of the then Governor) which after the union of Eptanisa (also known as Ionian Islands) with Greece it was given from the English to the Greek State and its use as a Palace was limited.

It’s situated at the Palace of Michael and George in Spianada

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