Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation, Cultural museum in Nafplio, Greece.
The Vasilis Papantoniou Foundation, formerly the Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation, occupies the Papantoniou family's early 20th-century neoclassical house at the corner of V. Alexandrou 1 and Sofroni streets in Nafplio, converted into a museum in 1981. Its collections number about 50,000 objects, most dating from the late 19th to the early 20th century, including costumes, toys, jewellery and a fashion collection with pieces by Christian Dior, Issey Miyake and Mariano Fortuny.
Ioanna Papantoniou founded the foundation in 1974 in memory of her father, Vasilis Papantoniou, starting from her donation of 6,000 objects. Since 1981 it has occupied the early-20th-century Papantoniou family house at Vas. Alexandrou 1 and Sofroni in Nafplio, converted into a museum that same year. In 1989 it opened Greece's first Childhood Museum in the old Nafplio railway station, and in 1993 Melina Merkouri assigned it the Hellenic National Costume Archives.
The collection displays traditional garments from different regions of the Peloponnese and represents craftsmanship passed down through generations. Visitors can observe how local dress varied in colors, patterns, and weaving techniques, and what role these clothes played in people's everyday lives.
The museum is centrally located in Nafplio and easily walkable from most spots, though its hours are limited and it closes on Tuesdays. It is advisable to check opening times beforehand, as they can vary seasonally.
The museum received the European Museum of the Year Award in 1981 for an exhibition documenting natural textile processing techniques and traditional dyeing methods of the region. This recognition established it as a pioneer in preserving and sharing craft knowledge.
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