Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), often related to atherosclerosis, are responsible for the leading cause of death in the developed countries. The social and economical burden of CVDs remains very high. It is widely agreed that the mechanical environment and properties of arteries play an important role in the origin and progression of CVDs. This work focuses on the determination of the mechanical properties of healthy and diseased human arteries, their respective layers and tissue components. Different types of testing methods have been applied (uniaxial, extension-inflation, peeling). The obtained experimental data give valuable implications for vascular physiology, surgery and clinical applications. Moreover, the data are fitted to novel constitutive models appropriately describing the mechanical features of soft biological tissues, which serves as basis for finite element implementations