The Pavlos Vrellis Greek History Museum ( el, Μουσείο Ελληνικής Ιστορίας Παύλου Βρέλλη) also known as Pavlos Vrellis Museum of Wax Effigies is a privately owned

wax museum A wax museum or waxworks usually consists of a collection of wax sculptures representing famous people from history and contemporary personalities exhibited in lifelike poses, wearing real clothes. Some wax museums have a special section dubb ...

in Ioannina regional unit,

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 wi ...

. It was set up by the sculptor Pavlos Vrellis in February 1983, and is the best known wax museum in Greece. The museum hosts 150 wax models in 37 themes, inspired by various events from

Greek history The history of Greece encompasses the history of the territory of the modern nation-state of Greece as well as that of the Greek people and the areas they inhabited and ruled historically. The scope of Greek habitation and rule has varied throu ...

Location and history

The Museum's main building is located south of the city of

Ioannina Ioannina ( el, Ιωάννινα ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus, an administrative region in north-western Greece. According to the 2011 census, the c ...

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinri ...

, in

Bizani Bizani ( el, Μπιζάνι) is a village and a former municipality in the Ioannina regional unit, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Ioannina, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit ...

municipality, on the Ioannina – Athens national road. It was owned by local sculptor Pavlos Vrellis, who founded the museum in February 1983. The museum facility covers an area of and is built according to the traditional, local, fortress-type architectural style of 18th-century, according to Vrellis' own design.Pavlos Vrellis Museum of Greek History, Greece.
europe-greece.com A small

annex Annex or Annexe refers to a building joined to or associated with a main building, providing additional space or accommodations. It may also refer to: Places * The Annex, a neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada * The Annex (New ...

with free access is located at Ioannina, 15 Karamanli street.

Exhibits

The wax effigies of the museum are displayed in life size, included in a faithful representation of the environment of their age and revive forms of the local history. Without storeys but on a variety of distinct parallel and connecting levels. The visitor moves along mountains, houses, caves, churches, and alleys, following a non-circular but endless course, ingeniously devised and arranged. They cover twenty four centuries of Greek history (from 500 BC), with an emphasis on the modern history of

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinri ...

. The museum hosts 37 themes and 150 wax models which represent various historical events. There are three thematic units in the Museum: pre 1821 history,

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...

(1821-1830) and themes from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

:Ioannina.uoi.gr
Wax works by Pavlos Vrellis
University of Ioannina. *Secret Greek School during

Ottoman rule Ottoman is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ar, عُثْمان, ‘uthmān). It may refer to: Governments and dynasties * Ottoman Caliphate, an Islamic caliphate from 1517 to 1924 * Ottoman Empire, in existence fro ...

. *Foundation of

Filiki Eteria Filiki Eteria or Society of Friends ( el, Φιλικὴ Ἑταιρεία ''or'' ) was a secret organization founded in 1814 in Odessa, whose purpose was to overthrow the Ottoman rule of Greece and establish an independent Greek state. (''ret ...

*Torture of

Dionysius the Philosopher Dionysios Philosophos (Διονύσιος ο Φιλόσοφος, Dionysios the Philosopher) or Skylosophos ( el, Διονύσιος ο Σκυλόσοφος; c. 1541–1611), "the Dog-Philosopher" or "Dogwise" ("skylosophist"), as called by his r ...

Klephts Klephts (; Greek κλέφτης, ''kléftis'', pl. κλέφτες, ''kléftes'', which means "thieves" and perhaps originally meant just "brigand": "Other Greeks, taking to the mountains, became unofficial, self-appointed armatoles and were kno ...

*Death of Ali Pasha *

Theodoros Kolokotronis Theodoros Kolokotronis ( el, Θεόδωρος Κολοκοτρώνης; 3 April 1770 – 4 February 1843) was a Greek general and the pre-eminent leader of the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829) against the Ottoman Empire. Kolokotronis's g ...

*Women of Pindus (during the

Battle of Pindus The Battle of Pindus ( el, Μάχη της Πίνδου) took place in the Pindus Mountains in Epirus and West Macedonia, Greece, from 28 October–13 November 1940. The battle was fought between the Greek and the Italian armies during the first ...

) Moreover, specific themes are inspired from Jewish history, like images from

The Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europ ...

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Official sitewww.ioannina-portal.gr
History museums in Greece Wax museums Museums in Ioannina Museums established in 1983