Corgialenios Museum of Folklore and Cultural History: A lesser-known attraction that will surprise you!

Nestled away on the ground floor of the Corgialenios Library, at 12 Zervou Street, is the small but immensely rich in heritage Corgialenios Museum of Folklore and Cultural History. Home to collections spanning centuries, this preservation of folklore and cultural artifacts will impress even the unenthusiastic museum followers. 

What’s exhibited in the museum? Well, we’ve compiled 5 artifacts in the hope of triggering your interest, the next time you visit Kefalonia.

• Ferdinand de Lesseps, black Indian art desk. Ferdinand de Lesseps was the engineer who opened the Suez Canal. Fine detail carving covers the whole surface of the desk indicating fine craftsmanship. Lesseps passed on his desk to his Kefalonian secretary of the construction of the canal in the mid-19th century.

• A rare exhibit in the museum is the half propeller of a plane that took part in the Asia Minor campaign in 1920. A total of three planes were involved and during a flight over the vast Turkish desert, one of them was irreparably damaged. The three pilots were ordered to abandon their planes, one of who was the Kefalonian pilot Gerasimos Menagias. All three pilots were then transferred to Egypt, where they remained for eight years. During their stay there, Gerasimos carved a heart into the half of the propeller he took from his plane where he placed a photograph of the three engineers.

• The oldest exhibit is a wooden carved cross made by Georgios Laskaris in the village of Minies back in 1582. The cross contains scenes from the Old Testament at its base, while the top part of the cross has scenes from the New Testament. 

• One of the most touching exhibits is a special embroidery made by a young local girl using her hair as thread. She used 85 pieces of hair to embroider and express her gratitude to her best friend.

• One of the most important exhibits is the costume with which Queen Amalia of Greece participated in the celebrations of 1864 for the Union of the Ionian Islands with Greece.

These 5 exhibits are just a small fraction of what’s housed in the museum. Walking around the halls one gets a real feel for the local culture and an understanding of how Kefalonia developed into what it is today. 

It’s worth a visit the next time you come to Kefalonia!