Greece’s national intelligence service plans to open a public museum in early 2027 featuring spy cameras hidden in ties and briefcases, surveillance equipment, cryptography systems, declassified archives and interactive exhibits, all in order to showcase on the country’s post-WWII intelligence-gathering history.
The museum, to be housed in a renovated building at the headquarters of the Greek National Intelligence Service, known by its Greek acronym EYP, in the northeast Athens district of Agia Paraskevi, will offer free access to the public, following security procedures. Visitors will be able to view exhibits covering both modern intelligence operations and the activities of the military security services that preceded EYP, which was established in 1952 as the Central Intelligence Service (KYP) and renamed EYP in 1986.
According to documents cited by Ta Nea newspaper, exhibits will include covert surveillance devices, microfilm transmission equipment, intelligence records from critical periods of modern Greek history, examples of encryption and decryption methods, and interactive displays explaining intelligence analysis and counterintelligence techniques.
The museum will be located adjacent to EYP’s center for technological support, development and innovation, the unit responsible for cybersecurity matters. The wider intelligence complex attracted public attention during court proceedings related to a recent wiretapping scandal, following allegations that individuals connected to the illegal Predator spyware operation had used facilities at the site.
EYP officials describe the project as part of a broader effort to increase transparency and strengthen public trust in the agency following years of controversy surrounding surveillance practices, operational failures and allegations of political interference. Planning documents state that the museum aims to familiarize visitors with issues of national security, the agency’s mission and its institutional role through digital exhibits, archival material and educational programs.
The initiative follows EYP’s publication in late 2024 of intelligence reports produced during the Cyprus crisis of July and August 1974.
Additional historical material is expected to be released in the future.
The project mirrors similar initiatives abroad.
America’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) maintains an extensive museum at its headquarters in Langley, Virginia, featuring espionage equipment and artifacts from Cold War operations, while the National Security Agency operates a public museum focused on cryptography and signals intelligence.
Britain also preserves intelligence-related collections associated with historic Bletchley Park, the headquarters of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War, while former KGB-themed museums and exhibitions in Russia and elsewhere showcase Soviet-era surveillance techniques.
