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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,
,which illustrates some of the traditional aspects of Limnos ((in terms of how people on the island lived, along with some of their customs.
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 house which has been stocked& enriched with items (antiques) 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, on the table.
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 bookshelve which is equipped, with specific books,which mention details, concerning the history, the customs& 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) with his head scarf and musical instrument (small harp/ lyra) in his hand
The clothing of the countesses, from the 18th&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 or a guest, 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. (Since their was no plumbing network etc,
,the practical manner of cleaning plates, and washing hands etc, was to use separate water containers, each equipped with a tap)
One can observe the stone carved basin, (the work of the skilled stone masons in the village)
The dried out pumpkins, 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 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 tap) A variety of cooking pots, both iron and clay cooking pots,along with mash potato cooking pots.
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/festival, 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
there were the individuals, mainly housewives, that created vast hand sewn paintings, from various materials.
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 most exquisite details,in terms of human made knitting's,
with the finest accuracy, prior to that of the machine based knitted decorations etc
The paintings, and the magnificient pillows,all 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)
which is extensively decorated with hand knitted decorations.Hand knitted pillows, blankets, and hand knitted shades.(Some knitted shades, were used as protection, from mosquitos)
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 emphasizing 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 Cossacks,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 Winstons 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,such as, 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 Cossack 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 school 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.
(They obviously didn't have traktors and other mechanical vehicles,to assist them, nor did they have the luxury of electrical appliances
to assist them in any manner, everything was done by shear hard 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,
and yet at the same time, one must contemplate, that these liquors were all produced naturally,
unlike today's global wine&liquor industry, which to a great extent includes a substantial amount of artificial flavouring,
and various chemical compounds, whereby profit comes first, and quality comes second.
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.