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. The museum owes its name to Antonios Benakis,
founder of the Benaki Museum in Athens. Following his wish, the building
was donated to the Greek Archaeological Service by his heirs in 1962. Built
in 1742, during the Turkish occupation, it was closely associated with
important historical events of that period. In 1971 it was opened as a
museum. The old exhibition included finds from small-scale excavations
undertaken by the 7th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities,
but its nucleus was formed by artefacts from the major excavations at Malthi
and Nichoria. The mezzanine floor housed Byzantine antiquities and other
historical relics from Kalamata.
On
14 September 1986, a destructive earthquake struck Kalamata. The museum
and most of its exhibits were seriously damaged. The archaeologists, conservators
and workmen of the 7th Ephorate mounted a titanic effort to pack and transport
the exhibits to the Olympia Museum for safekeeping and conservation.
The
restoration of the building lasted five years (1988-1992) and was coupled
with a redisplay project, which resulted in the inauguration of the exhibition
on the ground floor in 1995. Three years later the second floor was completed.
The new display, inaugurated in 2000, aims at allowing visitors to approach
the artefacts through comprehensive thematic units, while conveying information
about their use and significance. By using ample visual material (maps,
photographs, models, reconstructions) visitors gain a better understanding
of various aspects of the civilization that flourished in Messenia for
centuries.
Address:
6 Papazoglou Str., 241 00 Kalamata
Telephone:
+30-721-26.209
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.
Among
the exhibits of the Museum are included the station and its area, with
a small double-storeyed building for the station-master, four platforms
and an entrance pavilion with fixed benches for waiting passengers. There
are also a water-tower with a cylindrical stone base, three fountains for
steam engines, and control wheel, a metal pedestrian bridge of 28m in length
running along the axis of the station-master's office, as well as other
details connected with the organization of a railway (switch levers, lanterns,
stands, stoppers).
Also
exhibited is a rolling stock, consisting of seven steam engines and one
diesel engine, two draeseners (one foot-and one hand-operated), a manually-operated
crane (1890), three first class passenger carriages and five first and
second class carriages (1885) and eight freight cars of various types (1885-1947).
The railway carriages were arranged so as to provide, not only a lively
and vivid educational enviroment, but also to house certain municipal functions
and activities organized by various institutions of the town |
