The Archaeological Museum,
located alongside the harbor, was built circa 1900, mainly to house finds
from the excavation of the “Pit of Purification” (dating from the 5th
century B.C.) and the necropolis of Rhenia. There is a large collection of
vessels especially represented of Cycladic ceramics dating from the
Geometric period until the 6th cent. B.C. Also on exhibit are wonderful
black figure and red figure pottery and diverse finds, including Hellenistic
period gravestones and other sculpture. Among the finds from Mykonos,
especially impressive is the “Pithos of Mykonos”: a large jar, (made in a
workshop on Tinos the 7th cent. B.C.) richly decorated with bas – relief
zones of bas-relief depicting various scenes from the Trojan War (the
central composition shows Achaian warriors with the Trojan Horse).Open 8:30
a.m to 3:00 p.m, daily except Monday and major public holidays.
MYKONOS FOLKLORE MUSEUM (tel.: +30 22890 – 22 591)
The Folklore Museum is the
located in an old, two-story, captain’s house in the Kastro of Mykonos town,
a few meters distant from the proud Paraportiani church. There are six main
exhibition halls which house collections of antique furniture, Byzantine
icons, Folkloric ceramics, historical commemorative plates, decorative
prints and gravures, as well as embroidered and hard-woven fabrics, locks
and keys, weights and measures, a lovely collection of model boats, and
other historical artifacts. There are also import archives of manuscripts
and printed matter, photographs, maps and a significant library. Open from
April to October 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. daily except Sundays.
AGRICULTURAL MUSEUM - BONI WINDMILL AND LENA'S HOUSE are
divisions of the Mykonos Folklore Museum (tel.: +30 22890 – 26 246) (tel.: +30 22890 – 22 390)
The first, located on the edge of
the town at Apono Mili, is an outdoor museum, which presents the traditional
Mykonian agricultural installation used for the production and processing of
farm products: the threshing floor, the well, the oven, wine-press, etc. The
museums centerpiece is the Boni Windmill, which is in full working order and
may be visited from June to September daily, 4:00-8:00 p.m.
The second, near the Three Wells, is a charmingly preserved, authentic 19th
century Mykonian middle-class dwelling, which is completely furnished and
equipped with antique furniture and house utensils. Open evenings, except
Sundays, from April to October, 6:30p.m. to 9:30p.m.
AEGEAN MARITIME MUSEUM
(tel.: +30 22890 – 22 700)
Located by the Three Wells,
next door to Lena’s House, this museum displays scale models of various
rowing boats, sailing vessels and steam-powered ships which, in turn, from
Prehistoric times until the present, have traversed the Aegean. Also there
is a rich collection of maps and other engravings can be seen a collection
of reproductions of ancient gravestones, carved with sea-themes; there, as
well, is the tower with the mechanism of the Armenisti Lighthouse (1889).
The “EVANGELISTRIA”, a traditional sailing vessel belonging to the museum,
is moored every summer in the old harbor where it may be boarded by
interested visitors. Open, April to October, daily, 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
and evenings from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.
PARAPORTIANI CHURCH In the
Kastro, which is the original nucleus of the present-day town of Mykonos (on
its northwestern edge), stands the Paraportiani, a group of building
impressive for its shapes plasticity. In this location, during the Middle
Ages, there was a tall, fortified tower, side by side and above one of the
entrances to the Kastro. Now there is a complex made up of five churches
altogether, four on the ground level and on the floor above, the church of
the Virgin, which is the oldest of all. The Paraportiani, and the windmills are
the island’s trademark.
DELOS Delos is the Sacred Island of
the Ancient Greek, which according to mythology, was revealed among the
waves of the Aegean to Leto, who was being chased by the jealous Hero; it
was the refuge where she gave birth to Apollo and Artemis.
On Delos are
found the admirably well-preserved ruins of one of the largest, most
significant, and best- organized ancient Greek settlements. The island was
first settled, probably by the Kares, about the 3rd millennium
B.C. In the beginning of the 8th cent. B.C. it developed into a
center of worship and was the capital city of an amphictyony of Aegean
island.
At the end of
the 6th cent B.C., the tendency of the Athenians was to take over
the island: IN 540 B.C. Peisistratos ordered the first purification of the
sanctuary. As a result of the second purification (426 B.C.) the entire
contents of all the islands graves were remove to neighboring Rhenia.
Afterwards in order to prevent desecration of the sanctuary, both births and
deaths were forbidden on the island of Appolo.
The Athenians
consecrated the first “Delia” dedicated to Leto, Artemis, and Apollo. In 315
B.C., when Macedonians arrived on the island, Delos achieved its
independence and developed commercially.
During the
Roman period, the island thrived, until, until 88 B.C.; the population
included Egyptians, Syrians and Italians. Then, after two dreadful attacks
during the Mithridatic War, Delos went into decline and was finally
abandoned in the 6th cent A.D.
In the 1873 the
French Archaeological School of Athens started excavations and restoration
enabling the wealth of the islands history to be revealed to everyone who is
interested. The Archaeological Museum of Delos house one of Greece’s most
significant collections, including rare exhibits of ancient sculpture
ceramic vessels, epigraphs and wonderful mosaics etc.
The sites of Delos and
Rhenia are under the protection of the Ministry of Culture; thus, both the
mooring of private boats there and staying overnight without official
permission are strictly forbidden.
