Why another Museum Lens
This lens is dedicated to Peloponnese, Greece. Peloponnese has some of the richest historic and archaeological traditions in Greece. Enough is to say that is the place where the Mycenaean Civilization flourished and the place where the great Ancient Olympic Games were were born! It has also been the home land of Sparta and Corinth some of the most important and famous Greek Cities of the ancient times. Another aspect that most of the world doesn't know is that Peloponnese has been the center of the Greek revolution against the Turks, has hosted the first Greek Capital of the New Greek State, and thus has quite a rich modern history from the 19th Century and after. Therefore it is obvious that this rich land needs to have it's own lens!
If you're interested in the museums if Greece you might also want to check out my other lenses:
Greek Museums: Athens & Thessaloniki
Enjoy!
ACHAIA
In the ancient times, the Achaeans participated in the foundation of the colonies in Sicily in 700 BC, while on the contrary they did not participate in the large fights and the political events of the 5th BC century. Under the threat of the Macedonian expansion and having as a pretense the settlement of the Macedonian guards in the Achaean towns, these towns were reorganized and they established the Achaean Federation. The Achaean Federation was dissolved when Achaia together with the rest of Greece was submitted to the Romans in 146 BC.Achaia prospered during the Byzantine period and for that reason it became the target of attacks from the Arabs and the Slavs. After the fall of Konstantinoupolis, the Turks conquered also the region of Achaia (1460) and they maintained their conquest until the bursting out of the Greek Revolution in 1821. The Greek Revolution started in the Monastery of Saint Lavra near Kalavrita. The labarum (banner) of the Revolution was raised there for the first time. After the liberation of Patras in 1828 the whole area around was also liberated and was joined with the rest of Greece.
Archaeological Museums and Collections
- Aigion Archaeological Museum
- The museum is housed in the building of the old town market of Aigion, which was designed by E. Ziller and built in 1890.
The collections of the museum include finds dating from the Neolithic to the Late Roman periods.
- Archaeological Museum of Patras
- The exhibition is housed on the ground floor of a three-storeyed Neoclassical building which was donated to the Greek state and was partly used as a museum after 1938.
Books about Achaia
Mycenaean Achaea (Studies in Mediterranean archaeology)
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009) 
Akhaia and Ilia (Guides to Greece)
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009)
Achaia (Greek traditional architecture)
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009)
Historical and Folklore Museums
- Museum of the Sacrifice of the People of Kalavryta
- The Museum of the People of Kalavryta was founded in 1993, after 50 years the town's holocaust.The Museum is housed in the town's primary school, which is a historic building, donated by Andreas Syngros in 1906, and closely linked to the historical event of the destruction of Kalavryta.
Books About the Kalavryta Massacre
Just Another Man: A Story of the Nazi Massacre of Kalavryta
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009)
The province of Kalavryta: A historical and socioeconomic review
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009)
JUST ANOTHER MAN: A Novel based on Eye Witness Fact by the Author- The Nazi Massacre of Kalavryta, Greece
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009)
CORINTHIA
Passing through the prefecture, it is obvious that this is a place with a history that goes back to the ancient years. Corinth was inhabited since the Neolithic Period and acquired great power and prosperity in the 9th through the 5th century B.C. It was conquered by the Romans in 146 B.C but flourished again under the Roman Rule. It was visited by St. Paul who preached there on 52 A.D. Due to its strategic position, Corinth has suffered raids from Goths, Slavs, pirates, Franks, the Knights of Rhodes, the Venetians and the Turks. Archaeological Museums and Collections
- Archaeological Museum of Corinth
- From 1 December 2001 the antiquities that had been stolen on 12 April 2001 are exhibitedThe museum was built in 1931/32 by the architect W. Stuart Thompson and was extended towards the east in 1950. It contains collections of prehistoric finds, various items ranging from the Geometric to the Hellenistic period, Roman and Byzantine finds, excavation finds from the Asklepieion of Corinth, and a collection of sculptures and inscriptions.
- Archaeological Museum of Isthmia
- The museum was built in 1970 by the architect Paul Mylonas and opened to the public in 1978.It contains collections of finds from the sanctuary of Poseidon, the sanctuary of Palaimon, the Hellenistic settlement at Rachi, and from the excavations in the area of Isthmia and the ancient harbour of Cenchreai.
- Archaeological Museum of Nemea
- The museum was constructed as part of the excavation project carried out by the University of California at Berkeley, thanks to the generosity of Mr. Rudolph A. Peterson. It was
dedicated and presented formally to the Greek State on May 28, 1984. The entrance is located on the west side. The foyer opens on a courtyard, opposite the entrance, and on the main exhibition hall.
Books About Ancient Corinthia
Ancient Corinth: the Museums of Corinth, Isthmia and Sicyon
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009)
Nemea: A Guide to the Site and Museum
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009)
Games and Sanctuaries in Ancient Greece: Olympia, Delphi, Isthmia, Nemea, Athens
Amazon Price: $49.87 (as of 11/28/2009)
Catalogue of Greek Coins: Corinth, Colonies of Corinth, etc
Amazon Price: $15.99 (as of 11/28/2009)
Ancient Corinth: The site and the museum
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009)
ARGOLIS
Argolis is one of the prefectures with the most ancient monuments, the most ancient town in Greece, Argos, and the first capital, of the liberated from Turks Greece, Nauplio. Worth - seeing are some of the most picturesque landscapes of the country combined with the immutable tracks of its ancient history : beautiful beaches, castles, tombs, one of the best maintained pyramids in the world and the most ancient theater with impeccable acoustics, the theater of ancient Epidauros. Archaeological Museums and Collections
- Archaeological Museum of Argos
- The Museum contains finds from the excavations conducted by the 4th Ephorate at Argos and the surrounding areas, ranging from the Middle Helladic (ca. 2000 B.C.) to the Late Roman period (600 A.D.), finds from the excavations of the American School of Classical Studies at Lerna (Myloi), dating from the Neolithic until the Mycenaean period (5000-1100 B.C.), and finds from the excavations of the French School of Archaeology at the Ancient Agora, the area of the Theatre of Argos (ranging from the Archaic to the Roman period), and the Mycenaean cemetery of Deiras.
- Archaeological Museum of Epidaurus
- The museum contains collections of building inscriptions, hymns and inscriptions concerning the miraculous cures of Asklepios, Greek and Roman votive sculptures, most of them replaced by plaster casts, votive and honorary inscriptions, reconstructions of the entablature and sima of the Propylaia, of a Doric column from the Temple of Asklepios and the entablature of the Temple of Artemis, various architectural parts of monuments at the sanctuary of Asklepios, pedimental sculptures, a temporary exhibition of architectural parts and sculptures from the Tholos and a collection of inscriptions displayed under the portico to the south of the main museum building.
- Archaeological Museum of Nauplion
- The Archaeological Museum of Nauplion was erected in 1713, by the Venetian Providor Sagredos, during the second Venetian occupation of the area, in order to become the arsenal of the Venetian fleet. The exhibition is housed on the first and second floors while the ground floor is occupied by the offices of the 4th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities.
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Books About the Mycenean Civilization
The Mycenaean World
Amazon Price: $25.89 (as of 11/28/2009)
Myceneans: Life in Bronze Age Greece
Amazon Price: $30.55 (as of 11/28/2009)
Progress into the Past: The Rediscovery of Mycenean Civilization.
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009)
View from the Bronze Age: Mycenean and Phoenicians Discoveries at Kition
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009)
Historical and Folklore Museums
- Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation "V. Papantoniou"
- The Papantoniou Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation (PFF) is a legal person under private law which functions to the public benefit and is based in Nauplion. It was founded in 1974 with the objectives of researching, studying, conserving and promoting the popular culture of the Peloponnese and, more generally, of Greece as a whole.
ARKADIA
Arcadia had been the homeland of the Pelasgians and was later inhabited by Dorians. At the same time Arcadia was since antiquity the archetypal rustic area of Greece and by this fact an area strongly involved in the Greek Mythology. Ancient Arcadia is mostly known as the home of the god Pan and several Arcadian nymphs and setting for much pastoral literature. Leading ancient cities were Tegea, Mantinea and Megalopolis (founded in the 360s BC). Ancient Arcadian cities had many colonies, as in Cyprus (Pafos) and Italy (Rome), Minor Asia (Pergamon), Pontos (Trapezounta) etc. Arcadians sided against Sparta, with they had always been at odds. Archaeological Museums and Collections
- Archaeological Museum of Astros Kynourias
- The building that houses the museum follows the local traditional architecture and has been used as a teaching centre (Karytsiotis school), since the second half of the last century.
The prefecture of Astros conceded the building to the Ephoreia of Antiquities. In 1985, after a period of major repairs and conservation, the building was converted into a museum by the Ephor of Antiquities, Dr. Theodoros Spyropoulos. The museum's large courtyard was also converted into an archaeological park and exhibition.
- Archaeological Museum of Tripolis.
- It is housed in a neoclassical building of the former Panarcadic hospital "Evangelistria", which was founded during the years 1895-1905. The building was designed by Ernst Ziller. The archaeological museum was established by the Ephor of Antiquities, Dr. Theodoros Spyropoulos, during the years 1980-1986 and was inaugurated by the then Minister of Culture Melina Merkouri.
Museums of Science and Technology
- The Open-Air Water Power Museum of Dimitsana
- The Open-Air Water Power Museum (OAWPM) belongs to the Museum Network of the Pireus Bank Group Cultural Foundation (PIOP). It opened to the public in the summer of 1997. It is located at "Kefalari tou Ai-Yanni", a spot of great natural beauty 1.5 Km from Dimitsana in the Central Peloponnese. On a site with an area of 1,000 square metres, the buildings of a water-mill (also housing a fulling-tub), a tannery (with the tanner's house) and a powder mill have been reconstructed, and the permanent equipment of those installations has been restored to its original form and functions.
MESSENIA
The earliest inhabitants of Messenia are said to have been Pelasgians and Leleges, of whom the latter had their capital at Andania. Then came an Aeolo-Minyan immigration, which apparently extended to Messenia, though the Pylos of Nestor almost certainly lay in Triphylia, and not at the site which in historic times bore that name. In the Homeric poems eastern Messenia is represented as under the rule of Menelaus of Sparta, while the western coast is under the Neleids of Pylos, but after Menelaus's death the Messenian frontier was pushed eastwards as far as Taygetus. Excavations at Pylos and Nichoria have revealed for Messenia's late Bronze Age (1300s BC) a bureaucratic, agricultural kingdom ruled by the wanax at Pylos. The Messenians spoke Mycenaean Greek, and worshipped the Greek gods at local shrines like that at PA-KI-JA-NE (*Sphagianes). Archaeological Museums and Collections
- Benakeion Archaeological Museum of Kalamata
- The Benakeion Archaeological Museum is situated at the heart of the historical centre of Kalamata. This remarkable Venetian-style mansion, at the corner of Benaki and Papazoglou streets, accommodates a rich collection of archaeological treasures from various sites in Messenia, which span the time from the Bronze Age to the Roman period.
- Antonopouleion Museum of Pylos
- The museum was erected in 1956.Its two rooms house a display of finds turned up in the course of archaeological exploration of the area of Pylos. They include pottery, small finds, metal objects, weapons and tools from Prehistoric to the Roman period.
Books About Pylos and Messenia
Sandy Pylos: An Archaeological History from Nestor to Navarino
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009)
A Guide to the Palace of Nestor, Mycenaean Sites in Its Environs, and the Chora Museum (Guides)
Amazon Price: $7.50 (as of 11/28/2009)
The Palace of Nestor at Pylos in western Messenia: Volume II. The Frescoes
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009)
The Museum of Chora: Mosaic and Frescoes
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009)
Museums of Science and Technology
- Railway Museum of the Municipality of Kalamata
- The Railway Museum, which has been in operation since 1986, has been installed in the southern end of the Municipal park of the Railways, in an area of approximately 200 arces, which allows the Museum's railway exhibits to be integrated into their natural enviroment.
LAKONIA
Archaeological Museums and Collections
- Archaeological Museum of Gytheion
- Until 1996, the museum was housed in the neo-classical building of the Town Hall, which was rebuilt in 1891. The museum will soon be transferred to the town's old Girls' School, a neo-classical building which is currently being restored.
- Archaeological Museum of Sparta
- The museum was established in 1874, in a building designed by the Greek architect Katsaros. In 1930s two rooms were added to the initial central building. The new design is attributed to the Danish architect Christiansen Hansen.
The museum contains the following collections:
* Prehistoric collections
* Roman sculptures
* Small objects from sanctuaries at Sparta
* Inscribed stelai from the temple of Artemis Orthia
* Mosaics
* Laconian reliefs
* Sculptures of Archaic, Classical and Roman date
Books About Sparta
The Spartans
Amazon Price: $23.10 (as of 11/28/2009)
Sparta and War (International Sparta Seminar)
Amazon Price: $79.50 (as of 11/28/2009)
On Sparta (Penguin Classics)
Amazon Price: $10.20 (as of 11/28/2009)
The Peloponnesian War: Athens, Sparta, and the Struggle for Greece
Amazon Price: $22.76 (as of 11/28/2009)
Hellenistic and Roman Sparta (States and Cities of Ancient Greece)
Amazon Price: $37.79 (as of 11/28/2009)
Byzantine Museums and Collections
- Archaeological Collection of Monemvasia
- The Archaeological Collection of Monemvasia presents elements of common memory and knowledge for the identification of the "the renowned town", whose presence on the rocky coast of the Peloponnese can be traced back to the 6th century A.D. The Collection was inaugurated by the Minister of Culture, Mrs. Elisavet Papazoi in July 1999.
- Archaeological Museum of Mystras
- The Archaeological Museum of Mystras is housed in the two-storeyed building at the west wing of the north courtyard of the Cathedral of St. Demetrios. It was founded in 1951 and since then its collections have been considerably enriched.
It contains collections of Byzantine sculpture, jewellery, pottery, coins, fragments of wall paintings, portable post-Byzantine icons, and pieces of fabric.
Books About Monemvasia
Monemvasia: Byzantine City State
Amazon Price: $100.39 (as of 11/27/2009)
Discover Monemvasia
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Monemvasia
Amazon Price: (as of 11/27/2009)
MONEMVASIA THE TOWN AND ITS HISTORY
Amazon Price: (as of 11/27/2009)
Books About Mystras
Mystras: The medieval city and the castle : a complete guide to the churches, palaces, and the castle
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009)
Mystras, Sparta (The face of Greece)
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009)
Mystras: The Final Glory of Byzantium
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Mystras - The Final Glory of Byzantium - Brief Illustrated Archaeological Guide
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009)
ELIS
ELEIA
Archaeological Museums and Collections
- The Archaeological Museum of Olympia
- One of the most important archaeological museums in Greece. It hosts in its collection artefacts from the sanctuary of Olympian Zeus, in Olympia, where the ancient Olympic Games were born and hosted. The new museum was constructed in 1975, and eventually opened in 1982, re-exhibiting its treasures. The architect of the museum was Patrocolos Karadinos.
- Archaeological Museum of Elis
- The museum was erected in 1981. At the some time it was able to be visited.This gallery houses a display of finds (statues, reliefs, pottery, architectural members and artefacts) from the Early Helladic to the roman period.
Books about Ancient Olympia
Games and Sanctuaries in Ancient Greece: Olympia, Delphi, Isthmia, Nemea, Athens
Amazon Price: $49.87 (as of 11/28/2009)
Olympia: Cult, Sport, and Ancient Festival
Amazon Price: $16.95 (as of 11/28/2009)
Olympia, brief history and complete archaeological guide
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009)
Olympia (Greek Museums)
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009)
Excavations at Pylos in Elis (Hesperia Supplement)
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009)
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