Balkan Wars Museum - Misplaced Pages

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The Balkan Wars Museum (Greek: Μουσείο Βαλκανικών Πολέμων Mousio Valkanikon Polemon) is a museum in Gefyra, west of Thessaloniki, Central Macedonia, Greece, dedicated to the Balkan Wars.

History and description

The museum was founded on 26 October 1999. It occupies a two-storey building, built at the end of the nineteenth century near the entrance to the village. It is known as the Villa Topsin and it was here that the negotiations between the Greeks (under Crown Prince Constantine) and Ottoman forces were held when Thessaloniki was surrendered to the Greek army in October 1912.

All the furniture in the museum is authentic and has been supplemented by furniture which the army had previously kept in storage. The room in which Commander-in-Chief Crown Prince Constantine spent the night contains all the furniture which he actually used. The exhibits consist of photographs and lithographs of the wars of 1912-13. Of particular note are four paintings by Kenan Messare, the son of Hasan Tahsin Pasha, who surrendered the city to the Greeks, and accompanied Constantine on the Epirus campaign and in the Second Balkan War. They depict scenes from the Battle of Kilkis-Lachanas during the Second Balkan War.

There are also the entire sets of the military decorations awarded by the Greek, Turkish, and Bulgarian armies; a display of medals; many everyday objects used by officers and men; cards sent from here by Greek Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos; and Greek and Bulgarian uniforms, the most important of which is the one worn by Lieutenant-Colonel Papakyriazis, who was killed at the Battle of Kilkis-Lachanas.

The 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 Schwarzlose M1907/12 machine-gun, and the whole range of swords used by the Greek and the Bulgarian armies.

Gallery

Central hall
Room of Crown Prince Constantine
Uniform of Papakyriazis
Greek uniform

References

^ This article incorporates text from the corresponding article at the Museums of Macedonia website, commissioned by the Macedonian Heritage foundation, written by Vlasis Vlasidis, and published under a CC-BY-SA-3.0 license.

External links

www.museumsofmacedonia.gr
www.studylanguages.org
www.army.gr (in Greek) Archived 2010-09-17 at the Wayback Machine

v t e Museums in Thessaloniki
Archaeological	Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki Museum of Roman Forum
Byzantine/Religious	Crypt of Saint Demetrius Museum of Byzantine Culture White Tower of Thessaloniki Ecclesiastical Museum of the Metropolis
Historical	Atatürk Museum Balkan Wars Museum French Museum of Zeitenlik Holocaust Museum of Greece Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki Museum for the Macedonian Struggle Sedes Aviation Museum War Museum of Thessaloniki Greek refugees Museum
Folklore	Folk Art and Ethnological Museum of Macedonia and Thrace
Art museums/Galleries	Art Gallery of the Society of Macedonian Studies Cinema Museum of Thessaloniki National Bank of Greece Cultural Center Design Museum of Thessaloniki MOMus Contemporary MOMus Modern MOMus Photography Municipal Art Gallery (Thessaloniki) Teloglion Foundation of Art Vafopouleio Cultural Center
Industry/Technology	Broadcasting Museum of Thessaloniki Railway Museum of Thessaloniki Science Center and Technology Museum "Noesis" Water Supply Museum Pharmaceutical Museum
Education/Sports	Museum of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Plaster Casts Museum Thessaloniki Olympic Museum YMCA Basketball Museum Aris Basketball Museum Greek Guiding Museum Natural History Museum
List of museums in Greece

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