Wednesday March 29 was a mainly sunny day, turning cloudy in late afternoon. The wind had died down a bit and the temperature went up to a high of 18C. We headed out in the late morning for a coffee at Il Forno di Geraismo. We could sit outside and enjoy the sun.
 |
| Morning view from our apartment |
 |
After coffee, we went to a beautiful shoe store that had opened early in the season. Alain has been wearing his shoes out, and bought a new pair of fashionable runners.
 |
| New shoes on the counter at Makris (Greek made) |
We followed the seawall to the Archaeological Museum of Mykonos, where there was a truly beautiful temporary exhibit called VANITY. It featured jewelry treasures from seven millennia of Greek culture in the Cyclades Islands, showing the long history of adornment and vanity. The ancient jewelry dating back to the neolithic period (5300-4500 BC) was displayed in a series of modern cabinets. There was also a room with jewelry from 12 contemporary artists.
 |
| En route to the museum |
 |
| Outside of Archeological Museum with VANITY signage
The first room with the ancient jewelry had about 15 cabinets with pull-out drawers containing information in Greek and English identifying the jewelry and where it came from.
|
 |
| Very modern display of jewelry |
 |
| Early Bronze Age- Early Cycladic period 3200-2000 BC |
Necklace with 33 gold beads Mykonos 14-13 century BC
 |
| Pin with silver gilt shaft and head of sheet gold shaped into a poppy fruit Delos, end of 7th century BC) |
 |
Pins from end of 7th century BC  
Bronze bow fibulas - Geometric- Archaic period (around 8th century BC)
 
Necklace of pearls- post Byzantine period
 One of the most unique pieces was a diamond encrusted cross pendant belonging to Manto Mavrogenous, a heroine of the Greek War of Independence (1821-32), who spent her entire fortune on the war.  The second room of the museum had the display of the contemporary jewelry. At one end of the room was an enormous vase with designs of the fall of Troy. There was a mirror behind it that made for an interesting picture. 
Contemporary jewelry display and ancient pot- reflected in mirror
 
Relief detail
In two smaller rooms at either end of the first room of ancient jewelry, were amazing pots and vases. The story behind most of the pottery and some of the jewelry is fascinating. In 426-425 BC, the Athenians after consulting the Delphic Oracle removed all the burials of Delians (people from the island Delos, which is near Mykonos), and transferred them to a large pit on the nearby island Rheneia, thus performing the purification of Delos. At the same time, it was decided that from then on no one could be born or die on Delos, a ban which was respected until the end of antiquity. This led to the necropolis on Rheneia.
The burial area was discovered in 1898-1900 and became known as the "Purification Pit". Many of the vases and pots as well as some of the jewelry displayed in the museum were found in the Purification Pit. They date from the 8th to 9th century BC to 426/5 BC. 
7th century BC
  
8th-7th century BC
   On one wall in the jewelry room was a wall painting of a priestess from Thera dating back to the 17th century BC. 
I took one last photo through the museum door looking out at the water. We were both glad that we had decided to visit this absolute gem of a museum and that we had the opportunity to see the VANITY show. Amazing history of Greek jewelry from the Cyclades.
There is a store in Mykonos that sells replicas of antique Greek jewelry, but it was not opening until April. We have found the jewelry designers in Athens and the islands to be very creative in using elements of their rich history of jewelry making and merging them with contemporary design. 
Leaving the museum- with a view of the water
We headed back toward the main part of town on the seawall.
  
Alain with the sea behind him
Another windmill on high
We went back to Madoupas for a late lunch. This time we had Greek coffees and shared a bowl of chicken soup and a Greek salad.
 
With the Greek salad
One of the photographs in the restaurant showed the old fisherman and the original Petros, the Pelican, in Mykonos. We still haven't seen any of the contemporary pelicans.
The original Petros
We did see a large goose under the table where the fisherman display their fish in the mornings.
Mykonos Goose
We continued to wander, finding new gems of architecture and watching stores being painted for the season. Parts of the town smell like fresh paint.
 
First bougainvillea
 
A beautiful church
 
Inside of second church
   
We headed up the hill to our apartment for a pre-dinner rest. I took another photo just as we turned the corner to our place.
 We returned to the old town for dinner at To Maereio, a recommended restaurant. It was a busy, cosy, and reasonably priced place, favoured by locals. We started with a dish of taramasalata (fish roe with olive oil, lemon juice, and a starch). It was the real kind, not the pink-dyed North American version. We also shared one of their specials- meatballs in a delicious lemon and dill sauce. The house red wine was very good. For dessert we had semolina halva with chocolate-- home made and delicious (no dairy!). A great way to end the day.      We headed back uphill to the apartment just as it started to drizzle. We leave for Santorini tomorrow (Thursday) morning. |
No comments:
Post a Comment