The Theophilos museum is located in the suburb of Varia of Mytilene. It houses a large part of the work of the folk painter Theofilos Hatzimichael. Theofilos was born and spent his childhood in the area of Varia. Later he takes refuge in Smyrna and from there he goes to Pelion, where for thirty years he wanders around the villages sometimes dressed as Tsolias and sometimes as Alexander the Great. He returns to Mytilini after its liberation and completes his painting cycle. He painted in cafes, houses, chapels many times for a plate of food. His works are distinguished by solidity and gloss, by harmony of colors and by a strange primitiveness. His themes stem from nature and history. The recognition of the value of his work and their promotion in the international arena are due to the famous technocrat Sto. Eleftheriadis-Teriad. He himself did not have time to see the appreciation that his creations won. The Theophilos Museum was built in 1964 in a suburb of Mytilene, Varia, where the popular painter was born and spent his childhood years, at the expense of Mytilene , a famous art publisher in Paris, Stratis Eleftheriadis (TERIADE). In 1965, TERIADE donated it to the Municipality of Mytilene together with 86 paintings by Theophilos, from his private collection, and since then it has been operating as a Municipal Museum. The building is built with Mytilene stone, which fits perfectly with the vast olive grove that surrounds it. It consists of four contiguous rooms, in which there are 86 paintings by Theophilos. The themes of the paintings are taken from History, Mythology, Folklore. It also depicts scenes from everyday life, costumes, landscapes, etc.
Archaeological Museum of MytileneThe new building of the Archaeological Museum of Mytilene, which is an example of modern museum architecture, is located in the Kioski area, where the recent excavations brought to light the sanctuary of Aphrodite. Its construction was completed in 1995, with the co-financing of the Greek state and the European Union, while the permanent exhibition on "Lesbos from the Hellenistic to the Roman Era" was inaugurated on March 23, 1999. The logic of the exhibition is to give the visitor the image of the way of life in Lesbos from the 2nd century BC. to the 3rd century AD, with the presentation of mansions with famous mosaic floors, utilitarian objects and sculptures, which either had a cult character or were symbols of power and wealth.
The presentation of the exhibition is completed with explanatory texts, maps and props, which contribute to a better understanding of the exhibits. The Museum includes:
- Mosaic floors and frescoes from the luxurious mansions, which are revealed on the hill of Ag. Kyriakis, and are the irrefutable witnesses of the significant economic boom in Mytilene from the 2nd century BC. and so on.
- Sculpture of Hellenistic and Roman times, represented in Lesbos by tomb reliefs, statues and portraits of important people of the time.
The Byzantine museum is housed opposite the wonderful temple of Saint Therapont. Its founder was the Metropolitan of Mytilene Iakovos Kleombrotos. His goal was to save relics of great ecclesiastical value. In the museum there is a collection of portable icons, vestments, church utensils, manuscripts and old church books, ornate icons of old churches. Among them is an image of the Dormition of the Virgin, created by the popular painter Theofilos. Beneath the museum are wonderful colored mosaics from Roman times.
Stratis Eleftheriadis Museum - Library - TeriadeThe Strati Eleftheriadis TERIADE Museum-Library in rural Lesbos, with the large olive grove that surrounds it, together with the municipal museum of Theofilos, is a point of harmony, beauty and culture, which many countries in Europe would envy. The museum is based in Varia of Mytilini and its permanent exhibition is housed in a two-story building consisting of 10 rooms per floor. In the halls of the museum, the visitor can admire works of engraving by the greatest painters of the 20th century as well as paintings by well-known Greek artists such as the popular painter "Theofilos" and Tsarouhis Vakirtzis and others.
GalleryThe Municipality of Mytilene has a unique cultural and visual space, after the organization and operation of the Municipal Art Gallery of Mytilene.
The Municipal Gallery is housed in an old three-storey mansion (Xalim Mpei), a typical example of local architecture, which dominates the area of Epano Skala. It belongs administratively to the Municipality's Cultural-Tourist Development Enterprise and has one of the most important collections of paintings, which was donated to the Municipality by George Simos-Petris and his sister Elli Simos.
George Simos-Petris was one of the most important technical critics of the country, an "intellectual" of visual art, a personal friend of the greatest Greek painters. After his death, he donated his personal collection, consisting of 110 paintings, to the Municipal Gallery (August 1998), while the collection was completed with a newer donation (September 2001) by his sister, Elli Simou.
Today the Petri Collection exhibited in the Municipal Gallery consists of 138 paintings, rare engravings, books and engravings. Among others, the Municipal Gallery exhibits works by Yiannis Tsarouchis, G. Gounaropoulos, Ant. Protopatsi, of Or. Kanellis, Picasso, Matisse, Moralis, Fasianos, Xr. Mpotsoglou, engravings by Bassos Katraki and a series of paintings by many other important Greek painters.
In addition to the very important Petri collection, the Municipal Gallery also has a remarkable collection of works by Lesbian painters such as Str. Axiotis, G. Gavalas, G. Perros, I. Moutzourellis, Str. Athenaios, K. Messinezi, M. Kallipolitou, Dim. Karapiperis and others.
As part of the operation of the Municipal Gallery, a painting maintenance workshop was organized on the ground floor of the building. The Petri Collection has already been preserved and the gradual conservation of the remaining paintings is following
On the unspoiled island of Lemnos and in the village of Portianou, which belongs to the Municipality of Nea Koutalis, there is the only Folklore Museum on the island, founded on 18/08/1995 by the Association of Portiana of Lemnos Athens - Piraeus and Surroundings.
The Museum is housed in a traditional building, which was designated as a monument and which is a particular example of folk architecture of the specific Settlement.
It consists of eight rooms and an outdoor covered building.
- In room No. 1, folk traditional costumes are exhibited in special display cases dating back to 1800.
- In room No. 2, anyone can see the loom, the wind, the rhododendron, the warps, the weaves and various knitting tools.
- In room No. 3, the vessels, the tableaus, the barbells and various pitchers dominate.
- In room No. 4, the visitor encounters a well-designed kitchen with its traditional fireplace, its utensils and everything that was necessary for the housewife of those times.
- On the second floor we are greeted by a traditional sitting room and worthy of admiration is the carved wooden chest. The bed with its handmade wedding dresses and its wonderful lace covering it, is awe-inspiring.
- In the outdoor area, the agricultural tools used for carving, threshing, threshing and harvesting the fruits are displayed.
- In the same area we see the traditional threshing floor.
- NATURAL HISTORY OF SIGRIOS
Editor: Fotini Anastasopoulou