A Glimpse at Mykonos’ Past

Alexandra Tzavella | July 28th, 2016

Two small museums in chora tell tales from the land and sea

LENA’S HOUSE

A typical 19th c. middle-class Mykonos home, this house bears the name of its last resident, Lena Skrivanou, who died in the late 1960s. The inheritors of the property, Georgios and Ioanna Drakopoulou, donated it to the Mykonos Folk Museum, and the house opened to the public in 1972.

In the drawing room, be sure to look at not only the furniture but also the prints, the embroidery, the mirrors and the decorative plates. From the bedrooms, fitted with Viennese furniture, continue to the rear courtyard to see a copy of one of the famous Mykonos dovecotes. Before you leave, take a look at the display case with the 18th century Mykonos costume. It was assembled by designer Giannis Metzikof, using Mykonos fabrics and working from early 18th c. drawings and descriptions by French traveler and botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort.

INFO

Lena’s House: Tria Pigadia, next to the Aegean Maritime Museum

• Tel. (+30) 6942.487.224

• Open 18:30-21:30

AEGEAN MARITIME MUSEUM

This museum, which is housed in a 19th century Cycladic-style building, offers visitors a tour through Greek maritime history and traditions, focusing on the development of merchant ships in the Aegean from the pre-Minoan era to the early 20th century.

You can see fascinating ship models, historical shipping documents, rare engravings and maps, nautical instruments and coins (with nautical themes) from the 5th century B.C. to the 5th century A.D. The most impressive exhibit is perhaps the mechanical workings taken from the Armenistis Lighthouse, built in 1891. Its light shone brightly from the northern coast of Mykonos for a whole century before being replaced by a more modern beacon. The museum’s founder, Mykonian benefactor Georgios Drakopoulos, received the Academy of Athens Award for his efforts in establishing this institution.