The Tannery Section of the Dimitsana Museum

The tannery at the open-air museum fo water power in Dimitsana.

INTRODUCTION

In my previous post in this series about my week in Greece (May 12th to 19th) I wrote about the Open-air Museum of Water Power at Dimitsana, and stated that I was going give the tannery a whole post to itself, and here it is.

THE TANNERY

As well as containing everything used in pre-industrial leather making this section features a short video detailing the process in its entirety. To get from a batch of skins to leather from which stuff could be made would take a couple of months.

This is the centrepiece of a fascinating museum. The tannery is the second-furthest part of the museum from the entrance, with the gunpowder mill directly below it.

Greece 2018: Friday 1: Dimitsana

An account of the opn-air museum of water power in Dimitsana (apart from the tannery, which I am giving a post to itself).

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to my latest post about my holiday in Greece (12th – 19th May). We are now dealing with the Friday, the centrepiece of which was to be a visit to the Open-air Water Power Museum at Dimitsana and a meal at a restaurant that serves meat from wild animals shot by the proprietor. This post deals with the Dimitsana section of the day apart from the tannery which I shall give a post to itself.

BEST LAID PLANS OF MICE AND MEN

For Thursday night’s supper we had eaten pork chops, and my mother had failed to finish hers. This it turned out was the first warning of a stomach problem that would lead to a serious alteration of our plans for the day. Although she felt well enough to make the journey by about 10 o’clock, the restaurant meal was out of the question.

THE JOURNEY TO DIMITSANA

The journey from Tseria to Dimitsana is somewhat over two hours in duration. It involves quite a lot of scenic stuff but also one truly abominable eyesore, modern Megalopolis (to give you an idea of the sheer visual awfulness of the place its most prominent features are a pair of giant cooling towers). Little remains of the original city – some pillars from the theatre is about all one can actually see.

Monastaries overlooking the Lousios Gorge — This monastery is actually modern and Russian funded, but there are also some much older monasteries in the area.

THE OPEN AIR WATER POWER MUSEUM

Dimitsana is a mountainside town, which means that going round the open-air museum involves going downhill and then back up at the end. The water was running more vigorously than it had been on my previous visit – perhaps because it was earlier in the year.

Gunpowder press — Most of the gunpowder the the Greeks used in their war of independence in the early 19th century was manufactured in Dimitsana.

The path beyond the museum — I do not know where this path ultimately leads, but there is a sign warning that you follow it at your own risk.

Mountain village — This is a classic view of a Greek mountainside village.

This museum is well worth a visit, and we were there on Museum Day, meaning that admission was free.

Greece – an Aperitif

Introducing what will be a series about my holiday in Greece.

INTRODUCTION

I am just back from a week in Greece, mainly in places without internet connections. I have huge numbers of photos to edit, so to keep things going for the moment I am presenting a selection from across the week, plus the return flight, on which I had a window seat.

THE PHOTOGRAPHS

Lizard I — The first few pictures here are from in and arouns Tseria, where I was staying.

Map — This map is part of the decor of the shop from which my new Sandals came.

Me at the gateway to Methoni Castle — My new profile pic – me at the gateway to Methoni Castle.

The bridge connecting the Bourtzi to the main castle — The bridge linking the main castle and the Bourtzi

Heraldic lion, Methoni — A heraldic lion set into the stonework of the outer wall of the castle

The Bath of Nestor — The bath of Nestor, Pylos

Adult House Martin visits one of the nests — An adult House Martin visits one of the nests

Distant view of Karytaina Castle — Karytaina Castle

Waterfall, open-air museum Dimitsana — The next three shots show water power – all taken at the open-air museum of water-power, Dimitsana

Karytaina Castle from below I — Two shots of Karytaina Castle from below

Lousios bridges I — The first of four shots of the bridges over the Lousios.

The Alfios, the other river guarded by Karytaina

Small castle between Tseria and Kalamata — A tower between Tseria and Kalamata, the last picture taken from ground level to feature in this post.

Major bridge from 37,000 feet up — Even with 37,000 feet of vertical distance between me and it this bridge looked impressive.

Bridge links two landmasses — Another fine bridge (two shots)

Sharing our airspace — This aeroplane was flying at a lesser altitude than the Airbus A320 that I was aboard

Stretch of coastline — A stretch of French coastline.

White cliffs — The approach to Britain – I believe we flew directly over Brighton, if the combination of a large pier and a major cricket ground (Sussex CCC’s HQ if I am correct) is anything to go on.

Dimitsana: The Gunpowder Mill

Like the Tannery, this has a video explaining the process of making gunpowder. Most of the gunpowder used by the Greeks in the War of Independence of 1821 was manufactured in Dimitsana, so this is of particular relevance to this museum. Once more it is a story told in pictures…

These are the mortars - later I will be posting a video of them in action. — These are the mortars – later I will be posting a video of them in action.

Dimitsana 2: The Tannery

The Tannery is absolutely remarkable. There is a 15 minute video which describes the process of getting from skins to usable leather. The process was painstakingly slow, occupying something in the region of a month per batch of skins. If you are ever fortunate enough to visit this site make sure you watch the video right through – it is good.

Once again, pictures will tell this story better than words…

These skins are ready for the tanning process to start.

Here we are part way through the process.

Dimitsana 1: Before the Tannery

The open air museum of water power at Dimitsana is a remarkable site, worthy of several posts. This post covers the first part of the site, leading up to the tannery, and including some stuff about fulling, and some introductory stuff about water and energy.

Pictures tell this story better than words…

The information boards at Dimitsana are some of the best I have ever encountered.

Leaving Olympia

A final coda to my post about Olympia (https://aspiblog.wordpress.com/2014/10/14/ancient-olympia/), a lively and amusing version of the story of how the ancient Olympics got started is told by Tom Holt in the novel Olympia. Any book with his name on the cover will be a good read.

After an excellent stay at the Hotel Europa, we set off as intended just before 10 o’clock. For the next hour things did not go quite as planned…

First we could not find our way on to the road from Olympia to Tripoli as intended, and then having got on to a suitable route we picked up a hitchhiker which delayed things further.

However, we still arrived at our first stop of the day, Dimitsana, in good time to go round the open air museum of water power.

The Alfios Dam - this river most emphatically does flow all year round. — The Alfios Dam – this river most emphatically does flow all year round.

Part of the station building at Olympia - sadly it served its last customer some years ago. — Part of the station building at Olympia – sadly it served its last customer some years ago.

I think this underplays the excellence of the hotel!

The map of Greece even marks Tseria - nearly as remarkable as Fakenham being marked on a map of Europe! — The map of Greece even marks Tseria – nearly as remarkable as Fakenham being marked on a map of Europe!

me pictures from this portion of the day…

	Thomas on 49
	Shaun Bradford on 49
	Thomas on Reaching Back to WG Grace Twic…
	Elena Delle Selve on Reaching Back to WG Grace Twic…
	Thomas on Two Contrasting Routes to…