Veria’s proud new acquisition aims to bridge Byzantine gap
The new Byzantine Museum in Veria, northern Greece, recently inaugurated by Prime Minister Costas Simitis, emerged as the fortunate outcome of a lengthy ordeal, with the intention of shedding light on the region’s pivotal role during Byzantine and post-Byzantine times. The museum, housed at the old Marcos Mill, dating back to 1911, was fully restored by architect Cleopatra Theologidou. Much work was needed. Formerly an industrial mill, the facility had stopped operating by 1960 before it was completely destroyed by a fire that broke out a couple of decades later, in 1981. For years, the roofless building stood derelict in the Kyriotissa area, where buildings have been listed as part of the country’s cultural heritage. Besides injecting new life into the building, the restoration project, whose development was orchestrated by the Culture Ministry’s division for museum works, also provided the parties involved with the opportunity to implement new ideas. Most of the project’s funding came from the European Union’s Second Community Support Framework. A temporary exhibition on the building’s ground floor highlights the entire restoration process. Adding to the museum’s total floor space, basement facilities lit by atriums were constructed in the building’s courtyard section. Still to come, two small buildings, to be constructed right behind the main building, will create additional space. «The museum is uniquely located. It lies within the listed cultural heritage area of Kyriotissa; it is transected by part of the city wall whose older parts date back to Hellenistic times; and, above the wall, two old buildings, presumably from the 19th century, have been preserved,» noted the project’s architect, Theologidou. «In other words, it’s a city attraction in itself. Any new addition must not interrupt this continuity, but, instead, ought to complement and enhance it,» she added. Spread over three floors and 720 square meters, the museum’s permanent exhibition was collected by both the Culture Ministry and a local Byzantine antiquities department. The collection is dominated by wall paintings, pottery, miniatures, manuscripts, sculptures, tomb finds, and coins. This bounty, combined with other items in storage rooms or workshops, make the Byzantine Museum a pivotal cultural establishment of the western Macedonian region, serving to supplement Thessaloniki’s Byzantine Museum. Moreover, the museum provides further proof of Veria’s more recent cultural revival – as indicated by significant improvements in the city’s cultural infrastructure and educational standards. The recent establishment of the Friends of Veria’s Byzantine Museum Society has further bolstered this trend. As was the case in other cities of the region, namely Constantinople, Thessaloniki, and Kastoria, the 13th and 14th centuries were times of prosperity for Byzantine Veria. The city’s ties with other Byzantine centers is reflected in architecture, paintings, and decorative arts. Visitors to Veria’s Byzantine Museum will come face to face with the latest in museum developments. «Myth of Time,» a film directed by Nikos Anagnostopoulos can be viewed on the museum’s ground floor, where a touch-screen offering information on sites and local artists is also available to visitors, together with books and replicas of exhibited items.
