THE MUSEUM

SKOPELOS
THE FOLKLORE MUSEUM

The Skopelos Folklore Museum, where physical evidence of the land are found, was founded with an aim to project the cultural richness of the island and create a spiritual core equal to the traditions and its history.

The building which houses the Folklore Museum was donated in 1991 by the Nikolaidis family to the Municipality of Skopelos.

The old building was built in 1795 and maintained up to 1963, when the first and second floors collapsed due to earthquakes. The foundations of the building were re-built in 1971 based on the plans of the old building and it took the form it has today, maintaining all the internal and external characteristics of the traditional style of the settlement, which has been legally deemed as listed.

The Folklore Museum of Skopelos opened its doors to the public in August 1992, giving back life to the old mansion of the previous century.

OPEN HOURS

April - Sep 31

IMPORTANT NOTE

The Folklore Museum of Skopelos does not operate due to maintenance repairs.

TICKETS

General entrance:

ADDRESS

Google Map

Skopelos Chora

Text for Skopelosweb.gr by Mrs. Anthi Valsamaki

Old women dug out their chests and offered all their treasures, and these became the collections material for the museum, where each item found its rightful place.

Thus, a mansion from the previous century was set up, and although the absence of its residents is felt, it gives the impression that they are somewhere close and that sooner or later they will appear.

Collections of the Skopelos Museum are made up of a number of traditional hand-made embroidered items that have been placed so as to decorate the sitting room, the fireplace or the area of the bridal bedroom, where all the dowry of the bride seems untouched by time.

The ground floor contains the sitting area and the fireplace. The couch is decorated by wonderful embroidery. The furniture is wood-carved, works of the traditional craftsman of the island, and it completes the space with the appropriate majesty.

The bridal bedroom with the other exhibits of the Museum beside it.

The bridal bedroom with the baby’s crib and the swaddling clothes spread out next to it are on the second floor of the mansion.

The other areas are covered by the guest room with sofas of that time, made from parts of the embroidery of the traditional bridal clothes.

Besides the isolated items, care was taken to set off the operation of folk workshops on the island. The collected items are adequate and they represent folk and traditional craftsmen of the island who along the way created the island’s history of folk art, and we must admit that many families came to make their great offerings a material witness for their land.

An exceptional collection of ceramics, knives, small true copies of ships, paintings and other works of art enchants with its construction and the love it has been made with.

The basement of the Folklore Museum is covered with a small collection of farming tools and items of everyday use.

The sofa and next to it a sample of the famous Skopelos costume, which in fact was the costume worn by the girl holding the Greek flag at the Olympic Games in Atlanta.

The Folklore Museum of Skopelos is a living organism, a heart that beats for the residents of the islands, who with their faith and undivided support are making every effort to keep their traditions intact and transfer them to the following generations.

The Folklore Museum organizes various events and various educational programmes. The annexe of the Lyceum club of Greek Women (Lykeion Ellinidon) in turn completes the cycle of tradition with the preservation of traditional dances. The Folklore Museum has also begun an effort to collect ethnographic and folklore information about the island of Skopelos, such as old photographs and much more.

The role of the Folklore Museum of Skopelos is to represent the history of the island, thus participating in its way in education, connecting the past to the present, while at the same time it contributes to national conscience and the preservation of the cultural identity of our land, giving off that fine aroma of romance and calm images that have now disappeared for good.

So, it is worth visiting the island of Skopelos in the future, visit this unique place and marvel at the unique collections of the Folklore Museum of Skopelos, which is very near the Telephone Company (OTE) building. It is open every morning and evening.

COLLECTIONS OF THE FOLKLORE MUSEUM OF SKOPELOS

The collections of the Folklore Museum of Skopelos include series of icons, embroidery, paintings, ceramics, black and white photographs, traditional costumes, tools, woodcrafts etc.

Most of these items are offerings of Skopelos residents, but also of the Nikolaidis family. Apart from the numerous single items, care was taken to set off the presence and operation of folklore workshops on the island. The material collected is enough to represent folklore and traditional workmen, who created the history of folk art on the island through their course.

On the first floor there is a ceramics collection of the well-known Rodios family. The pots of these artisans are usually archaic-looking, made from Skopelos clay, which turns dark when it is baked.

On the second floor, the visitor will see a collection of knives and tools from the workshop of Mparmpa Giannis Lemonis, the well-known knife-maker. You can marvel at the famous hand-made knives, with their handles made from animal horns, engraved with quatrains similar to those Seferis the poet dedicated to him.

The collectons on the second floor are enriched by the unique works of Triantafyllos Mpountalas, the well-known miniaturist shipbuilder. His adept hands created a series of trawlers, barques, light fast sailing boats, varkalas and tsernikia. Finally, the visitor will have the chance to marvel at the impressive recreation of the tarsanas, the traditional shipyard of Skopelos, also a work of Triantafyllos Mpountalas.