The Archaeological Museum of Tegea was built in 1907-1908 and it was among the first regional museums to be established at the beginning of the 20th century, with the initiative of the Athens Archaeological Society. One of the most distinguished members of the Society and archaeologists of his time, Prof. Konstantinos Romaios was the leading figure in the foundation of the museum and its first curator. In the introductory note of the first exhibits inventory he declares that the primary aim of the museum is to protect and display the significant archaeological finds from the adjacent sanctuary of Athena Aleaand from the wider region of Tegea. The first recording of the museum collections included 1283 antiquities (sculptures, inscriptions, clay and metal artifacts, architectural parts), to which was later added the Archaeological Collection of Tripolis. It is noteworthy that in the first visitors’ books, one may find the names of the most eminent archaeologists in Europe and the United States. The evolution of the museum reflects the increasing systematic efforts of the Greek State to rescue and enhance the cultural heritage at a regional level. Through time the historic land of Tegea yielded a growing archaeological record formed by surveys and excavations but also by accidental findings, all of which ended up in the Museum of Tegea. Thus, in the first postwar decades, the small local museum possessed an extensive collection that comprised antiquities from all over the prefecture of Arcadia, covering a time span from 3000 BC until the Early Byzantine period. Besides, until the erection of the Museum of Tripolis in the mid-1980’s, it was the only museum in the region.