The Folklore Museum
Located in Kontohori, Fira, in a cave house built in 1861.
The museum displays workshops of carpenters, barrel makers, shoe makers and
tinsmiths as well as an original old winery, a gallery with works of local
current artistsand document archives.
The Megaron Gyzi
This beautiful old mansion-museum, located in Fira, exhibits engravings
of the 16th through the 19th centuries with dresses, views and maps of the
Cycladic islands as well as old manuscripts and old photographs of how Santorini
looked before the devastating earthquake of 1956 and paintings of well-known
Greek artists who worked on the island.
The Naval Museum in Oia, houses all kinds
of displays featuring marine objects which trace the maritime
history of the island, especially during the 19th century.
Archontiko argyrou private museum at Messaria
, is a Guest House and Private Museum.
In 1888 George Argyros, landowner and wine-merchant, builded this neoclassic
mansion on the top of a traditional house and decorates it with wall paintings,
furniture and ornaments.
In 1956 a big earthquake destroyed part of the building and left it uninhabitable
for thirty five years.
In 1985, by decision of the Minister of Culture, Melina Merkouri, the house
was characterized as a work of art and a remarkable specimen of the architecture
of its time.
The restoration of the building,named Archontiko Argyrou or Argyrou mansion
house, started in 1987.
Today the building offers a unique and authentic glimpse into the Greek
cultural heritage.
The charm of the 19th century and the atmosphere of another age and another
way of life has been brought back.
The first floor is completely different, reserved to those who would like
to visit the magnificent house of a 19th century landowner.
Guided visits are offered at low fee since April to October. Enjoy the local
architecture, the vaulted ceilings, the floors paved by volcanic stones.
But especially the traditional atmosphere of the ground floor, the modern
comforts of today without losing the magic of the romantic past.
The
Museum of Prehistoric Thera, located in the
island's capital Fira, is not an ordinary provincial museum.
Its special contents, masterpieces of art from the prehistoric Aegean, such
as the famous wall-paintings and the unique gold ibex figurine, places it
on a par with the Acropolis Museum of Classical Greece (Parthenon sculptures)
and the Vergina Museum of Northern Greece.
The Archeological Museum in Fira, represents finds of the
island's long history.
The Museum contains collections of sculpture (ranging from the Archaic to
the Roman period), inscriptions (ranging from the Archaic to the Roman period),
vases and clay figurines (dating from the Geometric to the Hellenistic periods)
