Distomo Archaeological Collection

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Distomo Archaeological Collection
Established1994
Location Distomo, Boeotia, Central Greece, Greece.
TypeArchaeological museum

The Distomo Archaeological Collection is a museum in Distomo, in Boeotia, Central Greece. The museum, noted for its pottery collection, was established in 1994 and is supervised by the Tenth Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities.

Museum institution that holds artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, historical, or other importance

A museum is an institution that cares for (conserves) a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these items available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. The largest museums are located in major cities throughout the world, while thousands of local museums exist in smaller cities, towns and rural areas. Museums have varying aims, ranging from serving researchers and specialists to serving the general public. The goal of serving researchers is increasingly shifting to serving the general public.

Distomo Place in Greece

Distomo is a town in western Boeotia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Distomo-Arachova-Antikyra, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 131.270 km2, the community 80.498 km2. Population 3,881 (2011). Distomo is situated in the western foothills of Mount Helicon, at about 450 m elevation. It is 5 km north of the Gulf of Corinth coast, 9 km southeast of Arachova, 12 km east of Desfina, 16 km southeast of Delphi, 18 km west of Livadeia and 105 km northwest of Athens. The Greek National Road 48 passes north of the town.

Boeotia Regional unit in Central Greece, Greece

Boeotia, sometimes alternatively Latinised as Boiotia, or Beotia, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its largest city is Thebes.

Contents

History

The idea of a museum began in 1987 when the local council donated an old stone primary school erected in 1903 to the Greek Ministry of Culture, which began renovating and restoring the building. [1] The Archaeological Collection of Distomo then opened formally in 1994 by Evangellos Pentazos [1] to showcase finds from the ancient Phocean city of Ambrossos, which was located on the site of modern Distomo. [2]

Collection

The artifacts, which date from the Mycenaean to the Early Christian period, derive primarily from excavations of the Tenth Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities. [2] The permanent collection of the museum occupies two rooms and the entrance hall on the ground floor and one of the basement rooms is used as a conservation laboratory for mosaics, while another houses an exhibition of World War II photographs related to the Distomo massacre in 1944 by Nazi troops. [2]

World War II 1939–1945 global war

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 70 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.

Distomo massacre

The Distomo massacre was a Nazi war crime perpetrated by members of the Waffen-SS in the village of Distomo, Greece, in 1944, during the German occupation of Greece during World War II.

Nazi Party a far-right political party in Germany that was active between 1920 and 1945

The National Socialist German Workers' Party, commonly referred to in English as the Nazi Party, was a far-right political party in Germany that was active between 1920 and 1945, that created and supported the ideology of National Socialism. Its precursor, the German Workers' Party, existed from 1919 to 1920.

The museums contain a notable pottery collection from Medeon and Antikyra. It has a number of vases unearthed in the cemetery of ancient Medeon, spanning over 1600 years from the Mycenaean to the Roman era (14th century BC - 2nd century AD). [3] The vases from Antikyra date between the 8th and 2nd centuries BC. One of the notable artifacts is a clay sima, which preserves the outlet for the rain water in the form of a lion's head. It was discovered in a building in Antikyra and is dated to the 4th century BC. [3]

Medeon Place in Greece

Medeon is a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Aktio-Vonitsa, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 213.217 km2. Population 3,858 (2011). The seat of the municipality was in Katouna. Medeon was named after the nearby ancient city of Medeon.

Antikyra Place in Greece

Antikyra or Anticyra is a port on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth in modern Boeotia, Greece. It appeared in the Homeric Catalogue of Ships as the primary port of ancient Phocis. It was famed in antiquity for its black and white hellebore. Antikyra was destroyed and rebuilt during the 4th- and 3rd-century BC wars of Macedonia and Rome and following a 7th-century AD earthquake. During the 14th century, it was held by Catalan mercenaries. It now forms a unit of the unified municipality of Distomo-Arachova-Antikyra and is a center of Greek aluminum production. The municipal unit has an area of 23.332 km2. Its population in 2011 was 1,537.

Sima (architecture) upturned edge of an ancient roof

In classical architecture, a sima is the upturned edge of a roof which acts as a gutter. Sima comes from the Greek simos, meaning bent upwards.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Distomo Archaeological Collection:History". Hellenic Ministry of Culture . Retrieved October 2, 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 "Distomo Archaeological Collection:Description". Hellenic Ministry of Culture . Retrieved October 2, 2009.
  3. 1 2 "Archaeological Collection of Distomon". Greek Travel Pages. Archived from the original on June 12, 2011. Retrieved October 2, 2009.