3 Museums Showcasing Athens’ Industrial Heritage

Ever puzzled when the streets of Athens have been first illuminated? What adorned the hats and attire of early Twentieth-century Athenians? Or what sort of bread was baked within the metropolis’s ovens? Outdated craft and industrial websites which have been remodeled into museums present solutions to those and different questions. By their displays and storytelling, these museums reveal fascinating particulars that transcend the manufacturing course of, offering a glance into the each day lives of people in previous a long time.

1. Industrial Gasoline Museum, Gazi

Situated within the coronary heart of Athens, the outdated gasworks manufacturing unit is a primary instance of adaptive reuse. It’s also the best-preserved gasworks manufacturing unit in Europe. A part of the colourful Technopolis cultural advanced for the previous 25 years, the location has hosted concert events, exhibitions, festivals, and varied different occasions. The Industrial Gasoline Museum opened its doorways to the general public in 2013 with the goal of showcasing the historical past of the gasworks, which operated till 1984.

The manufacturing unit was established in 1857 by French entrepreneur François Théophile Feraldi, who had been tasked with lighting Athens utilizing gasoline. The ability expanded in 1887 to offer lighting for houses, workshops, and retailers. It got here beneath municipal possession in 1938, however after World Battle II, gasoline lighting started to lose floor to newer lighting applied sciences. At this time, guests can discover the remaining equipment and 6 preserved buildings. The manufacturing line, furnaces, tanks, and different factors of curiosity are dropped at life by way of expertise and a specifically designed sensory expertise, enhancing the customer’s understanding of this historic web site.

2. Benaki Museum / Mentis – Antonopoulos (‘NEMA’) Passementerie, Petralona

Probably the most spectacular options of this modest office is that, regardless of being a museum, it nonetheless features as a totally working textile mill. The traditional Mentis Passementerie Workshop confronted closure in 2011, due to the financial disaster that precipitated many small enterprises to fold. Nonetheless, due to the efforts of Ministry of Tradition ethnologist Virginia Matseli, the Benaki Museum’s help, and the house owners’ willingness to donate all the set of apparatus and merchandise, the enterprise was saved.

The unique employees have been rehired, the gear was restored, and manufacturing resumed, specializing in conventional gadgets like braids, trims, ribbons, cords, fringes, and tassels. The Antonopoulos workshop additionally contributed gear to the museum, ensuing within the creation of NEMA (Mentis – Antonopoulos Passementerie). At this time, the workshop produces gadgets offered on the Benaki Museum and has established high-profile collaborations, together with with the style home Dior, for which it crafted handmade cords for hats. The museum frequently hosts exhibitions and occasions to protect and promote conventional weaving and passementerie methods.

3. Loulis Museum, Keratsini

From the importance of cereals in culinary tradition to the primary flour mills, the Loulis Museum gives a complete exploration of the historical past of flour and bread. Housed within the historic constructing of the Aghios Georgios Mills in Keratsini, the museum’s assortment is split into twelve thematic sections. Matters embrace wheat as an agricultural product, sowing and harvesting strategies, milling, and trendy cultivation and manufacturing practices.

Guests can find out about mill expertise by way of instructional movies that cowl its evolution from basic watermills and windmills to at this time’s use of cutting-edge gear. The tour is extremely interactive and lasts about two hours.