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Lemnos "Ancient Hellenic name Anemoisia,
island of the wind", the island of Hephaestus,
guardian of the Hellenic customs&traditions,
in the northern eastern Aegean sea. With crystal clear waters, and unforgettable beaches, and
friendly natives, the island awaits to enchant you.The capital Myrina, with its fantastic Venetian castle,
and its rich civil heritage and folklore traditions, along with its simplistic architectural aspects,
its customs, and traditions, which have remained standing for centuries upon centuries.
One of Lemnos's thirty five villages, is Portianou,
which has a folklore museum, that illustrates some of the traditional aspects of Limnos ((in terms of how people on the island
lived, along with some of their customs... i.e traditional clothes etc)
The museum was created in 1995, with the initiative from the council of Portianou, and the council of Portianou citizens of Athens, and Peiraias
The museum, consists of a refurbished double story, which has been stocked& enriched with items mainly from the local families of the village and other families from the island.
These items have been collected over the years, with great patience, and finally, they have been placed, in the museum, with utter respect to the museum
itself, and the donators and creators of the museum.They (the items) illustrate the dominant will of the people,
along with these great efforts, which martyr their achievements with respect,towards the history, the heritage & culture
and the traditions of the island.
The museum's internal area, consists of eight rooms, with four rooms on each level, of the two story house.
with so many items in the museum, one does not know where to begin....
In the main 'reception' area of the museum, there is the visitor's book, for the visitors, to leave their comments concerning the museum.
With careful and consistent planning, along with careful observation and further innovations,we have the will to continue our aim,
to enhance the museum, with our devotion and patience.
The bookshelf which is equipped, with specific books, which mention details, concerning the history,&customs and traditions, of Lemnos, along with a specific book of Portianou, which mentions the unique history of the village Portianou,
along with a unique collection of photos and articles concerning Portianou.There are several books which illustrate the old techniques
used by the inhabitants of the island, in a time, whereby the inhabitants, didn't have the luxury of electricity...
The local outfit (clothes) of the 'Kehagias' (native farmer& landlord of the island)
The clothing of the countesses, from the 19th century can also be observed in the museum,
Most of these clothes, included materials such as silk, along with other expensive fabrics.
There is a table, which has an array loaded with porcelain cups, which are suitable for
liquor to be poured in them. The typical offering for a visitor at a wealthy person's house would be, either a cup of liquor or a cup of coffee.
On the wall, one can see old photos from different families
from the village....photos from the past century (early 20th century).
The photos of beloved citizens, with their humble jobs, ranging from restaurant owners, to that of farmers
and tailors,to that of simple housewives, including one particular elderly woman,who assisted many women in childbirth
.In the next room, located right next to the room, with the antique clothes,
one can see, and old loom. The loom remains intact, with all its components
ranging from various 'combs' used in the loom, to that of its detailed components,
ranging from its shaft bars, to that of its ***, its treadles, its upper lamm and lower lamm, its Combs& other components of the loom etc...
The large food bowls, and the food containers, along with the clay pots, the oven shovels and oven spades, and the irons
(charcoal based irons) which were used on wooden ironing boards...are some of the elements
that take us back to a very very tough time,
which is quite unimaginable& inconceivable, in comparison with todays facilities
In the kitchen room, we observe the wooden rods, used to keep the plates in place.
The water containers, with their taps, located on the wall next to the basin
One can observe the stone carved basin,(the work of the skilled stone masons in the village)
The dried out pumpins, used as scooping tools,the old meat grinding devices (mince meat devices
,along with a cocktail device (cocktail: canned food of mixed fruit).
along with the oil boilers and the petrol based gas boilers
along with the ice cube based fridge,
The large flour rafts (wooden raft shaped furniture, mainly used for making flour) along with the chilled water container ( ice cube based water container with a tap)
The coffee grinders, and the herb grinders,along with the coffee boilers
A variety of cooking pots, both iron and clay cooking pots, along with mash potatoe cooking pots
(It must be emphasized how self sufficient many farming families were)
Within the kitchen room of the museum, we observe a large amount of the tools
and items, which the middle class housewives, had at their disposal.
When one climbs the wooden stairs, and reaches the second floor,
.the old photos, and paintings (oil based paintings and knitted artwork!) reveal memories of celebrations of weddings, and festivities,
along with combined meetings of people, celebrating a particular event/festivital,or simply a group of farmers (kehagiades) playing music together.
A time whereby people celebrated the joys of life, with their neighbours,(to a substantially greater extent, than nowadays)
The old storage containers,loaded with hand sewn materials, paintings etc
The living room, which is decorated with knitted pillows,
along with an old sewing machine,and a small, round wooden table,with a writing tablet on it, illustrate how different members
of the family, all met up, within a single room.
The lounge is decorated with knitted pillows, hand made furniture, porcelain plates,
knitted artworks,in conjunction with other knitted decorations and petrol based lanterns.
It also has old albums which have many photos.
One's gaze stops, and the fancy boufet furniture piece,
with its traditional decorations...in particular, the knitted decorations, whereby items could aslo be stored in some of these knitted decorations
The buffet furniture piece, was packed with cups, which were used to serve drinks to guests
The old radio, and the old record player, along with the hand knitted 'pandas'(knitted artwork)
the knittings, done with delicate knitting needles, with the finest accuracy, prior to that of the machine based knitted decorations etc.
The paintings, and the magnificient pillowsall of which have been used to decorate this room.
The place of rest, after a hard day of work, is upon the iron framed bed,
The specific bed has been decorated, as a traditional wedding bed
Hand knitted pillows, blankets, and hand knitted shades.
The silk pyjamas (woman's pyjamas) and the mans pyjamas,along with the bible oriented furniture pieces,the wooden paintings, and the hand knitted curtains, along with the old books,
and the wedding oriented knitted artwork, attract one's attention.
Within the bounds of tradition, and emphasing the history of the particular island,
there is a room, with significant historical artifacts.....
The specific room, contains mainly old military items, which give an insight,
with regards to the various nations, that have passed by the village of Portianou (and other parts of the island).
Artifacts which range from that of the Kozacks,to that of the New Zealander troops, along with the Australian troops
(ANZAC troops) along with the British troops, of which a chair remains, from a wealthy home,
which hosted Winston Churchill in 1915, during the Gallipoli campaign
and thus the chair has acquired the name Winston Churchill's chair.
The room also contains uniforms from the second world war, along with tools from a vet.
Due to the lack of doctors, during both world wars, it was not uncommon, for vets to operate on wounded soldiers
The particular military room, also has a uniform which belonged to a Kernel from Crete, of which this Kernel (Alexander Zambettakis) besides his military qualifications,was also a qualified vet. A specialist in cows and horses.
He married a local woman from the village of Portianou, and his family donated his uniform and tools to the museum.
The room also includes many ANZAC artifacts,including a portable military phone, a large compass, howitzer shells
and some bullets along with a portable face washing basin
A cloth based basin, mainly used for washing one's face and hands
The ANZAC uniform, along with the French uniform, and the Kozack uniform,
are all visible in a glass covered furniture piece).
There is also an old book shelve in the room, with many books,which once belonged to the primary schoool of Portianou.
In the garden of the museum, and within the store room, of the garden,
one can feel as if they have travelled far back into the past!!
In a time, when the farmers ploughed their fields, and sowed their fields,with intense manual labour.
Amongst the tools that were used for ploughing,sowing and harvesting,
some other equipment was used for some luxury, such as wine making& liquor making
(ouzo, raki, tsipouro)
It may be a figure of speech, to quote, that one could get drunk, simply from the intense smell of alcohol,coming from the
wine distillers in the good old days,
whereby a variety of liquors were produced,
As we leave the store room, of the museum, the smell of jasmine and honeysuckle from the garden .
fills our senses with beautiful images of the past
and that which has been narrated to us, remains unforgettable,
because it is an old and deep heritage, whereby the roots
of this heritage must not be forgotten, and we must all
know the roots of this deep heritage,
so that we are not misled in wondering, with misguided thoughts of the past...
Whoever forgets the past, who ever forgets their history their heritage, customs and traditions, is in danger of
,loosing his/her historical heritage and national identity!
In either case, it is from the past,(learning from the past) that we build foundations, and hopes, for building a better future.
In 2002, the museum, with a decision from the ministry of education etc, was recognized as an educational
memorial building, which consists of, and illustrates a substantial amount of folklore history, architecture, customs and traditions
of the specific island.
was also a qualified vet. A specialist in cows and horses.
with intense manual labour.
to assist them, nor did they have the luxury of electrical appliances
,
As we leave the store room, of the museum,