Museum of Marble Crafts of Tinos

The Museum of Marble Crafts in Pirgos, on the island of Tinos, presents the technology of marble. At the same time, brings to the fore the social and economic context in which the local workshops evolved. The museum is a site of the Museum Network of the Cultural Foundation of the Piraeus Bank Group (PIOP).

The permanent exhibition comprises a variety of original works in marble: mundane, ecclesiastical, funerary and everyday objects, clay models and plaster-of-Paris copies, as well as quarrying, cutting and carving tools, mechanical equipment, archival material and the richest collection of sketches of old marble carvings of the whole of Greece. Moreover, visitors have the opportunity of familiarizing themselves with traditional techniques and processes regarding the quarrying, initial hewing and transportation of marble, as well as those concerning the shaping and positioning of a work in marble, thus following the entire trajectory from the raw material to the finished article. At the same time, the exhibition's audiovisual material brings to life the traditional working methods of the quarryman and the marble craftsman.

Finally, the exhibition extends into the museum's outdoor areas. In the square in front of the museum's entrance, a hoisting machine for blocks of marble and a trolley for their transportation from the quarry of Vathi are on show, while on the balcony a wagon-truck for chippings and rubble, a bend corner and rails from the quarry of Patela are exhibited, together with finished and in-process marble works. The historical mechanical equipment presented in the outdoor exhibition was salvaged, repaired and restored to function by PIOP and reconstructs typical images of the corresponding in situ working environments. Facilities:The Museum has also a multi-purpose hall, a café, a museum shop and a parking lot for visitors.