SAMI HAS A MUSEUM – RIGHT IN THE CENTRE OF TOWN
I meant to write this blog last year, when I first visited the new museum in Sami. The best of intentions so often come to nothing!
When we first arrived in Kefalonia, we only had the sketchiest idea of the history of the port and town of Sami. Over time, the colourful past of Kefalonia slowly unfolded and we were hooked.
There was the Mycenaean period when the island had been governed by the four individual city states. This was followed by a time when Greece was divided into many different states. Then the Romans arrived. Much later, the powerful state of Venice left a great legacy on the island. What was the extent of the Ottoman Empire in the Ionian Islands?
In the 19th century, and a very surprising fact to us, Kefalonia had had a British Governor. During World War 2, the island experienced those difficult times under the Italian occupation. Worse was yet to come when the Nazis arrived.
We now see that this rich history touches everything.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO LIKE WALKING BUT IT HELPS
Over the last twenty years we have walked all over Kefalonia, sometimes just for the walk, but mostly for a bit more than that. Just round the next corner, there might be more gems: Mycenaean fortified cities, burial grounds, remains of an ancient Greek temple, a Roman farm (there is one right at the start of our track), and the incredible watermills that have straddled the island’s steep river valleys for hundreds of years. Kefalonia is an island of rebirth, always rising to the occasion.
This is so painfully evident in the many ‘earthquake villages’ all over the island. These are quiet and dignified reminders of Kefalonia’s past – busy and productive settlements – still proud and fascinating.
https://www.kephalonia-walnuttree.co.uk/blog/kefalonia-trails/
SAMI’S ARCHAEOLOGICAL COLLECTION
Now slap bang in the centre of Sami (you cannot miss it) is this wonderful new Museum which illustrates just how much history has shaped this island. The museum does not cover just our local area. Excavations in Aghia Efimia and in Fiskardo have yielded very serious finds as well as uncovered splendid mosaic pavements, burial grounds, bath houses, water supplies; the list is long.
DON’T JUST LIE THERE – DO SOMETHING!
So when holidaying in Kefalonia and that sunbed by the pool has begun to lose its novelty (!), give the Museum in Sami a visit. Start discovering all those treats that await you – practically in every direction you care to go.
https://www.same-museum.gr/en/
