The Archaeological Museum of Kimolos

The Archaeological Museum of Kimolos is located at Chorio, opposite the Metropolitan Church of Panagia Odigitria. It is housed at a traditional two-story building, one of the oldest of Chorio. It started its operation on July 11th 2006, while the official inauguration took place on October 4th 2008.

On the first floor of the building, at three halls of total area of about 65 m2, the history of Kimolos is presented briefly. The tour starts with exhibits from the oldest known settlement (that we know so far) and reached modern times with the continuous showing of a film, with images from the present day, of the archaeological sites of Kimolos.
To Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο της Κιμώλου
The exhibits, most of them placed on showcases on the walls or on the floor, are presented divided in units and historical periods.

Impressive and worthy of mention is the crystal, transparent floor on which you can walk and underneath it see a reconstruction of an ancient burial, as it was found in the excavations.

Among the exhibits there are: a gravestone of a headless woman, carved on local rock, from the oldest in Greece (8th century BC), a headless female statue, 1.30 meters high (2nd century BC) and two copies of decrees (the original are kept in other museums). One is the decision about the owner of Polyaigos (4th century BC) and the second, among others, presents the structure and prosperity of the Demos of that time (3rd century BC).

To Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο της Κιμώλου There is also abundant visual material, perfectly matched to the area, with photographs of the sites where the exhibits were found, with drawings and explanatory signs, with maps and texts, both informative and with extracts from what the travelers said when they visited the island in the 17th and 18th century.

The exhibits of the Museum prove that Kimolos has a past of thousands of years and testify the fact that human presence and activity on the island started from Prehistoric times, in the Late Neolithic Period (findings in the area “Provarma”).

The area of “Ellinika”, with the sunk ancient city, the present day small island Agios Andreas, the acropolis of the ancient city and the wide necropolis at the beach and the wider area, are the sites where most of the findings exhibited at the Museum were found. Findings from the Mycenaean, Geometric, Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods indicate that people lived at
“Ellinika” for hundreds of years.

To Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο της Κιμώλου After we point out that the buildings were a donation of the family Vafea to the Municipality of Kimolos, we should note that the Ministry of Culture was responsible for the implementation of the project, and more specifically the 21st Ephorate of Prehistoric and Cultural Antiquities. The funding was done by the European Regional Development Fund by 75% and by the Greek State funds by 25%.