Museum of Ancient, Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Musical Instruments

Although the Museum of Ancient, Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Musical Instruments was founded in 1977, it operates since 1997. It is housed in Ladadika, in a restored three-storey building  and comprises more than 200 instruments that were used in Greece from 2800 BC until the early 20th century.

The musical instruments were accurately reconstructed with the help of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki to compose the museum’s initial collection and are displayed along with the sources referring to them, such as vessels, figurines, sculptures etc. Some notable examples include the seven-stringed forminx of the Minoan period, the double pipes with an air chamber (5th centuryBC). The bagpipes were played on the Greek islands, by the Greeks of the Black Sea, and in Thrace.

Rather remarkable is the fact that the visitors of Museum of Ancient, Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Musical Instruments may in some cases hear the sound made by some of the instruments.