The Basketry Museum of the Roma
Roma In Greece have lived in the country since 11th Century. The Byzantines thought they came from Egypt, and initially, the Roma were know as H Gypty (ie, the Egyptians). Basket making became a skilled craft which Roma excelled in. With the coming of the plastic age, straw baskets became just souvenirs. Enjoy the Basket Museum and learn more about the Roma and their lives.
Roma in Greece
Baskets have been made and used since Neolithic times. Making and using baskets is common to all culture. The museum outlines the history of basket weaving in Greece from the earliest days of antiquity, citing evidence of how basket weaving took place and how baskets looked like and how they used. Baskets, unlike ceramics do not preserve as well and except in very dry countries very few intact specimens exist. In ancient times basket making was associated with ancient deities associated with nature, including Demeter, the goddess of seasons and Gaia, the earth goddess. Basket weaving continued throughout the ages and in the 11th century during the Byzantine Empire, the first Roma people immigrated to Greece. The Roma were and still are adapt basket weavers. Some of the baskets exhibited at the Basketry Museum, in terms of technique, materials and form, are identical to those used in Byzantine Thrace. Nomadic and settled Roma populations in Greece and the rest of the Balkans, made baskets and continue to do so. The materials used are branches of willow (for decorative baskets), osier and reeds. Due to its excellent resistance, baskets made from hazel wood were popular and widespread, particularly among the Greeks of the Black Sea and the Pomaks of the mountainous Rhodopi. With the advent of plastic bags, basket making continues as an arts and craft activity but it is no longer the important sector.
The exhibits display all kinds of baskets used for any type of use, including agriculture, storing, domestic use, fishing, and other uses. The collection is displayed in four rooms according to three themes:
Raw materials used, the tools, basket moulds and the process and methods used to weave baskets.
the life of the A basket makers.
Baskets of various types and their uses made and used by Roma, Greeks, Pomaks , Bulgarians and Turks from wider Thrace region and examples of baskets made by Greeks from the Black Sea regions.
The Basketry Museum was founded by the Thracian Society.
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