The Nautilus museum was created in order to offer its visitors natural beauty, knowledge and to strengthen their sensitivity for the protection of the environment.So, after a ten-minute documentary in the projection room, which starts from the creation of the universe to the first life forms on the planet, the visitor goes to the main room with a lighting that gives him the feeling of the seabed, to admire the approximately 3000 exhibits from all over the world, placed in 28 showcases, with an impressive guided tour by our three guides and to learn how these creatures gave man so many ideas to make our lives more modern. So here one will be surprised when he realizes how many elements the scientists took advantage of (studying the peculiarities of molluscs) and applied them to architecture, medicine, shipbuilding, communication, mechanical engineering, textiles, economy, etc.
The operation of the museum until now and the visitors' reports in the impression books confirm the above and give the cultural stamp of this place.
The ¨bradaris¨ shell of the family murex in the hands of Hippocrates became the first medical tool (dropper). The same shell with the pigment of its gland gave us purple, a pigment used to clothe kings & emperors (Greek-Roman-Egyptian) with the red chlamys.
The "nautilus" is the shell that travels with a hydro-turbine system and not only that, it is the only shell that emerges and dives, filling its chambers, sometimes with carbon dioxide that it takes from the water and sometimes with water to function as a submarine.
The name "nautilus" of the fictional submarine in Jules Verne's novel "20 thousand leagues under the sea" was no accident.
The "tuna" & "isocadium" shells inspired architects with their caravoloid shape and decorated in the 5th century a capital, creating the Ionic style which was more decorated than the Doric. Thus, the Ionic rhythm was identified with the feminine gender in contrast to the Doric, which symbolized the masculine with its strict line.
Editor: Fotini Anastasopoulou