A museum with a difference
Travelers passing through Laconia this Easter should not miss a visit to the excellent Museum of the Olive and Greek Olive Oil, in an award-winning building in a semi-rural setting on the outskirts of Sparta and one of a number of similarly successful projects carried out by the Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation (PIOP). The stone facade of the old Sparta Electricity Company building was retained by architect Dimitris Diamantopoulos in his design for an airy, spacious building (winner of the Hellenic Institute of Architecture’s Architectural Awards 2004 in the public works category). The museum has two levels, both overlooking an olive grove where an extension is being built to display the process of olive cultivation and harvesting, and prehistoric, ancient and Byzantine oil-pressing installations. (PIOP is continuing with the theme of the olive on the island of Lesvos, where its Museum of Industrial Olive Oil Production is due to open in September in the old community olive oil factory in the village of Aghia Paraskevi, PIOP’s press officer Olia Vlachou told Kathimerini English Edition.) In Sparta, the exhibits are arranged so as to take visitors on a journey through the ages as they stroll through the museum, beginning with the olive tree in antiquity and the earliest cultivation of the olive as a crop. Fossilized olive leaves, 50,000-60,000 years old, were found in Thera’s Caldera, while the first written references date back to the 14th century BC, on clay tablets inscribed with Linear B script found in the Mycenaean palaces of Knossos and Pylos. There are displays on the use of olive oil in nutritional, cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications, in lighting, and its symbolic importance in religion, mythology, customs and more. This section concludes with a brief presentation of the olive’s position in art. The lower level is devoted to the development of olive oil production technology from antiquity until the early industrial era. An animal-powered olive oil press from Lefkada and a wooden double oil press with a winch, from the neighboring area of Xirokambi, are displayed – many of them donated or loaned by inhabitants of these areas. At the press of a button, visitors can set in motion working models of powered (by water, steam, diesel or electricity) olive oil presses – a great way to keep the children (and not only!) interested. For those with an interest in botany, there is a section on the natural environment of the olive tree, its taxonomy, morphology, and its cultivars. There is also an interesting section on making soap from olive oil, both domestic and industrial, with examples of the large cauldron still used by housewives in olive-producing areas as well as industrial soap vats. Soap and olive oil are among the products on sale at the museum gift shop. Future plans include a multipurpose hall for conferences, temporary exhibitions and other events. Touch screens, CD-ROMs, video, the museum’s guide and monographs on relevant topics that could not be presented in detail in the exhibition units will also be available. The museum, which opened to the public at the end of 2002, was included in the Regional Operational Programs for the Peloponnese and financed by the European Union’s 2nd Community Support Framework. Museum of the Olive and Greek Olive Oil, 129 Othonos-Amalias Street, Sparta, tel 27310.89315, www.piop.gr. Open daily, except Tuesdays, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. (from October 16 to February 28 until 5 p.m.). Easter vacationers take note that the museum will be closed on the morning of Good Friday (April 21) until noon, on Easter Sunday (April 23) and on May 1. On International Museum Day (May 18) the museum will host an educational program for children; on Museum Night (May 20) a play will be performed. Plant sale in Kolonaki Square Organically grown herbs and spices, including coriander, cumin, mint, and basil as well as climbers such as morning glory will be on sale in Kolonaki Square tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., donated by gardener Eliza Jackson, who grows them from organic seeds in organic soil. The proceeds will go toward the SOZO animal welfare group’s veterinary clinic (www.sozo.gr), which also spays and neuters stray dogs.
