The Silk Museum

Silk unwinds its tales
Take a tour of our museumsLive the experience
360°

The Museum

The Silk Museum is located in Soufli, a town indelibly linked with silk. It is housed in the Kourtidis Mansion (1883), a fine example of the region's "manor-house" architecture. The Mansion, where there lived Dr. Konstantinos Kourtidis (1870-1944), was donated by his daughter, Maria Kourtidi-Pastra, for housing a museum dedicated to silk. The Museum comprises two buildings situated around an inner yard: the old Kourtidis mansion and the two-storey "cocoon house".

The permanent exhibition presents all stages of pre-industrial sericulture and silk manufacture. It also tracks the history of silk over time, focusing on how the town of Soufli became a major silk-production centre from the late 19th to the mid-20th century.

What is on display? 

There are displays in both buildings. In the ground-floor of the later building visitors can study photographs and archival material about the fascinating, multi-faceted personality of Dr. Konstantinos Kourtidis. Specially-made video projections recount the history of silk over time. The main exhibition is on the first floor and presents the pre-industrial process of breeding the silkworm and processing the silk. Different sections focus on "unwinding" the thread of the cocoon, and the dyeing and weaving of silk fabrics; others on every-day life in Soufli in the 20th century. In the old mansion are shown unique Soufliot costumes and accessories of the local attire, but also modern, spectacular Chinese Opera costumes, part of the collection that was donated to the Foundation by the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in May 2018.

Audio-visual media help visitors learn about the manifold role of silk as an element of tangible culture across time, bur also about Soufli, especially in connection with the town's historical-geographical and ecological-environmental frame of reference.

The Museum organises touring exhibitions and cultural events and activities which are presented in its multi-purpose hall.

Of interest to children 

The Silk Museum organises educational programs for primary and secondary education schoolchildren:

  • "Let's Weave": describes the sericulture cycle, and the weaving and dyeing process for silk fabrics.
  • "Recycle by weaving": the children weave small carpets from old fabrics, with improvised looms made of a hoop of the type used in gymnastics.
  • "Traditional unwinding": the children learn about the process of unwinding the thread from the cocoon and feeding it to a spinning-wheel.

Very popular with both children and adults are the demonstrations of traditional unwinding, weaving at a traditional loom, and dyeing silk fabrics using plant fibre as raw material.

 

 

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

Download the Press Kit of the Museum

Educational material

See the educational material of the Museum

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