Balkan Wars Museum

The Balkan Wars Museum was founded in 1999 in Gefyra, a village 25 km far from Thessaloniki. The building that houses the museum was used on October 25, 1912 for the negotiations between the Greek commander in chief Konstantinos and the representatives of the Ottoman forces commanding officer Hasan Tahsin Pasha for the peaceful delivery of Thessaloniki to the Greek army.

The exhibits consist of photographs and lithographs of the wars of 1912-13. Of particular note are four paintings by Kenan Messare, who was the son of the Pasha of Thessaloniki who surrendered the city to the Greeks, and went with Constantine on the Epirus campaign and into the Second Balkan War. They depict scenes from the Battle of Lahanas during the Second Balkan War.

The Balkan Wars Museum also boasts a very large collection of Greek, Bulgarian, and Turkish weapons, including Greek and Bulgarian Mannlicher rifles, a Turkish Mauser, a Greek Mannlicher pistol, Turkish Mauser and Smith & Wesson pistols, a Greek Schwarzrose M1907/12 machine-gun, and the whole range of swords used by the Greek and the Bulgarian army.