A newly inaugurated museum in Thessaloniki (and free guided tours offered there)!

[Athanasios Koukopoulos]

In 1922 the Greek population of Asia Minor (or Anatolya, i.e. the asian part of modern Turkey) was expelled from their homeland. Arriving at Greece, they brought together their culture, and, above all, their faith and sacred artefacts. They built new churches, strongholds of their very identity.

In the church of St. Marine, east Thessaloniki (37 Agias Marinas str.), on the 200th anniversary of our national tragedy, a new museum was inaugurated. It houses icons and other sacred artefacts carried by Greek refugees. It is a unique opportunity to get to know a completely unknown aspect of our tradition in a completely uncrowded and unknown place of our city! The captions of the various objects, which are exhibited in a small hall, are only in Greek, so if you want to pay a visit, you have to book a guided tour (FOR FREE) via the following mail: [email protected]. The tour includes also the entire church complex (chapel of St. Elena of Sinope, main church of St. Marine). The church is accesible via bus (line 37, stop: Agia Marina, or line 14, stop: Agia Varvara).

 

[k_tsoukalas]

This looks like a very fascinating and interesting museum. Thank you for sharing this! I missed the chance to visit this last time we were in Thessaloniki. Part of my heritage came from this tragedy. I am a descendent from one of the displaced families who went first to Chios and then onwards to the United States. I want to learn more about this, and I don't want anyone to forget about this. My great grandmother and her small children managed to escape in a Greek fishing boat and my great grandfather followed shortly after.