Macedonian Museums-54-Balkanikvn Agvnvn-237

The Balkan Wars Museum ( el, Μουσείο Βαλκανικών Πολέμων ''Mousio Valkanikon Polemon'') is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

in Gefyra, west of

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

Central Macedonia Central Macedonia ( el, Κεντρική Μακεδονία, Kentrikí Makedonía, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece, consisting of the central part of the geographical and historical region of Macedonia. With a populat ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

, dedicated to the Balkan Wars.

History and description

The museum was founded on 26 October 1999. It occupies a two-storey building, built at the end of the nineteenth century near the entrance to the village. It is known as the Villa Topsin and it was here that the negotiations between the Greeks (under Crown Prince Constantine) and Ottoman forces were held when

was surrendered to the Greek army in October 1912. All the furniture in the museum is authentic and has been supplemented by furniture which the army had previously kept in storage. The room in which Commander-in-Chief Crown Prince Constantine spent the night contains all the furniture which he actually used. The exhibits consist of photographs and lithographs of the wars of 1912-13. Of particular note are four paintings by Kenan Messare, the son of Hasan Tahsin Pasha, who surrendered the city to the Greeks, and accompanied Constantine on the Epirus campaign and in the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 16 ( O.S.) / 29 (N.S.) June 1913. Serbian and Greek armies r ...

. They depict scenes from the Battle of Kilkis-Lachanas during the Second Balkan War. There are also the entire sets of the military decorations awarded by the Greek, Turkish, and Bulgarian armies; a display of medals; many everyday objects used by officers and men; cards sent from here by Greek Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos; and Greek and Bulgarian uniforms, the most important of which is the one worn by Lieutenant-Colonel Papakyriazis, who was killed at the Battle of Kilkis-Lachanas. The museum also boasts a very large collection of Greek, Bulgarian, and Turkish weapons, including Greek and Bulgarian Mannlicher rifles, a Turkish Mauser, a Greek Mannlicher pistol, Turkish Mauser and

Smith & Wesson Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American firearm manufacturer headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the "Smith & Wesson Revolver Company" in 1856 ...

pistols, a Greek Schwarzlose M1907/12 machine-gun, and the whole range of swords used by the Greek and the Bulgarian armies.

Gallery

File:Macedonian_Museums-54-Balkanikvn_Agvnvn-238.jpg, Central hall File:Macedonian_Museums-54-Balkanikvn_Agvnvn-239.jpg, Room of Crown Prince Constantine File:Macedonian_Museums-54-Balkanikvn_Agvnvn-240.jpg, Uniform of Papakyriazis File:Macedonian_Museums-54-Balkanikvn_Agvnvn-241.jpg, Greek uniform

References

External links

www.museumsofmacedonia.grwww.studylanguages.orgwww.army.gr (in Greek)
{{coord, 40.7294, 22.6994, type:landmark_region:GR, display=title Military and war museums in Greece Balkan Wars Museums in Central Macedonia