The Silk Museum

Silk unwinds its tales
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History

The Silk Museum opened its doors in 1990. It is housed in the Kourtidis Mansion in Soufli, in the Prefecture of Evros, and functions under the responsibility of the Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation.

 

The Kourtidis Mansion

Konstantinos Kourtidis (1870-1944) was a doctor, scholar and politician. In his time, the Mansion was a centre of national decisions for Thrace. Built in 1883 by local craftsmen, it is a building of outstanding architectural beauty and a notable example of Thracian bourgeois architecture.

 

The transformation into a museum

In 1976, Maria Kourtidi-Pastra, Konstantinos Kourtidis' daughter, donated the Mansion so that it might become the Silk Museum. As a result, systematic historical, ethnological and architectural research was undertaken, with a view to organizing the Museum's permanent exhibition on the town's tradition of sericulture and silk manufacturing.

In 2007, the Museum closed temporarily for the renovation of its premises and the radical reorganization of its permanent exhibition. The project was included in the Regional Operational Programme of Eastern Macedonia--Thrace and was funded by the Third Community Support Framework.

The Kourtidis Mansion was restored with genuine materials of its epoch.

The Silk Museum was expanded and reopened according to contemporary museum practices. The new permanent exhibition creatively incorporated contemporary technologies and audiovisual means.

Today, the Silk Museum offers a live experience of the old Thracian tradition of sericulture and silk manufacturing. 



 

The Museum was funded by the European Union and the third community support framework, regional operational programme for the East Macedonia-Thrace 2000-2006. 

  

PRESS KIT

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Educational material

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Gallery

Museum Network, Photography : Platon Rivellis, ΠΙΟΠ
Museum Network, Photography : Platon Rivellis, ΠΙΟΠ
Museum Network, Photography : Karavasiloglou Vasilis, ΠΙΟΠ
Museum Network, Photography : Karavasiloglou Vasilis, ΠΙΟΠ
Museum Network, Photography : Karavasiloglou Vasilis, ΠΙΟΠ
Museum Network, Photography : Karavasiloglou Vasilis, ΠΙΟΠ
Museum Network, Photography : Karavasiloglou Vasilis, ΠΙΟΠ