Nautical Museum (Litochoro)
The seafaring of the inhabitants of the Greek mountain village Litochoro has a long tradition, which is represented in the Nautical Museum ( Greek Ναυτικό Μουσείο Λιτοχώρου ) of the place.
location
Litochoro is located on the eastern side of Mount Olympus in Greece, 5 kilometers from the sea and around 350 m high. The museum is located in the municipal administration building.
history
Until well into the 20th century, Litochoro was the home of many shipowners and seamen. When the steamships ousted the sailing ships, this era ended. In 1995, the members of the Association of Retired Seafarers of Litochoro came up with the idea of documenting the maritime legacy and of saving and preserving the local cultural and maritime heritage.
Between 1995 and 2002, maritime relics were collected from the (formerly) seafaring families of the place. From 2002 to 2004 the merchant marine exhibits were brought together.
The "Litochoro Nautical Museum" association, founded in 2004, is registered with the Greek Ministry of Culture as an "Institution of the Cultural Maritime Heritage". Since it was founded, the scope of the exhibits has been continuously expanded.
The museum
The exhibits are either collected from the households of the former seamen or donated by shipowners or the Navy. Anchors, buoys, propellers and a torpedo are exhibited in front of the building. Although the museum is dedicated to merchant shipping, the tour of the building begins with a model of a torpedo boat that sank a Turkish warship off the port of Thessaloniki in 1912. Old pictures, some almost 100 years old, show proud families in the shipyard supervising the construction of their ship. Other pictures show sailors on board or in port. There are impressive models of ships in several showcases. Many of them are faithful replicas of ships that were once based here. Others represent a cross-section of traditional Greek ships over the centuries.
This is followed by nautical devices such as compasses, chronometers and sextants. Although replaced by modern technology such as GPS, these devices are still mandatory on board. If they are missing or not working properly, penalties are imminent. Furthermore, nautical tables and log tables are required to determine the exact position of the ship.
A memorial plaque is dedicated to the men who did not return from the sea. It is noticeable that sometimes entire families fell victim to Poseidon's whims.
The exhibitions
Separate exhibitions take place in July and August. The topics and thus the exhibits change every year. In 2016 ship models by the model maker Dimitris Maras were shown. In 2017 an exhibition leads through the history of officer training in Greece.
Web links
Coordinates: 40 ° 6 ′ 20 ″ N , 22 ° 30 ′ 14 ″ E