The Museum is housed in a historic building with Neoclassical features, built between 1885-1889, with a donation from Constantine Xenokrates, a national benefactor from eastern Thrace. It was then a primary school and operated for many years thus. In the same place there was previously a school building of the former Allilodidactic School, dating back to 1830. The Xenokrateion is a listed building, registered as a monument, ‘a typical example of a school building of the late 19th century and historical evidence of the structures that contributed to the architectural and urban development of the Sacred Town of Messolonghi’.
Apart from its use as a school, the building was also the focus of other activities, for example, when, as part of the centenary of Byron’s death and the events connected with the 1924 Exodus commemorations, a banquet was held there. In pre-war and later times the civil servants’ carnival ball took place there. The courtyard was the site of the pre-war Sarai, a building that burnt down in 1948 and was demolished, which once housed refugees from Asia Minor. During the war, the Xenokrateion was converted into a military hospital, as were other school buildings in the city, while during the Occupation it was partly used as a school. Next to it the Germans kept their stables. In the 1970s it was repaired and the exterior was altered.
Since 2011, the building has been ceded by the Municipality of Messolonghi to the Ministry of Culture for the purpose of creating a museum. From the end of 2021, the Xenokrateion Archaeological Museum is the central Archaeological Museum of Aitoloakarnania. Its archaeological collections include more than 1,300 objects from all over Aitoloakarnania, finds from old, but mainly from recent excavations, most of which are presented for the first time, including some extremely rare groups of finds. The exhibition is divided into seven rooms on the ground floor and the first floor of the building. The exhibits cover the chronological range from prehistoric to late Roman times (100,000 BC – 3rd century AD) and are accompanied by multimedia applications. The museum also has a reception hall, a shop, a multi-purpose room, a room for educational programmes and a large courtyard used for events and educational activities. In addition, it has the infrastructure to provide access for people of all ages and people with disabilities: information signs in Braille, an elevator and an external access ramp for people with mobility problems.
The Museum also functions in parallel as an Information Centre (info-point) of the Cultural Route “Routes of the Messolongi Lagoon”. Thanks to its central location in the city, visitors to the area can have access to specialized applications of new technologies for more complete information on cultural and natural resources. In particular, in the multi-purpose room on the ground floor of the Museum, a multimedia application with eight thematic modules linked horizontally to the four proposed cultural itineraries is available.
Address: As. Fotila 2, 302 00 Messolonghi.
Telephone: 26310 26068.
Opening hours: 8.30-15.30. Every Tuesday the Museum is closed.
Entrance: Full ticket: 6 Euros, Reduced ticket: 3 Euros.
Website: www.efaaitl.gr
The Museum is located near the church of Agios Panteleimon, which began construction in 1880. In the same area, on the streets of Krystallis and Joseph Roğon, was the house of the Bishop of the Free Besieged, Joseph of Roğon and Kozyli (1776 -1826), a Friend and fighter in the 1821 Revolution. His house is registered as a historical monument (YA 106252/3241/15-12-1949 – Government Gazette 218/B/21-12-1949). Joseph Rogon was blown up at Anemomylos on the evening of Clean Monday 1826, along with 30 of his fellow soldiers, setting fire to a barrel of gunpowder; he was then martyred by the Turks who tortured and finally beheaded him. There used to be a stone pyramidal structure on a square base on this site, a monument that was destroyed in the 1950s when the site was rebuilt. His tomb was excavated in 1991.
In the square of Agios Panteleimon is still the building of the former “HELLENIC SCHOOL”, today the 1st Kindergarten, registered as a monument (YA YΠΠΟ/ΔΝΣΑΚ/Α/3611/91/4-2-2005 – GG 226/B/21-2-2005), as a typical example of a school; it was built after 1850 by the K. Hadjikostas Foundation. Of classical plan, it has a historical architectural and urban character, which characterised the area and the Holy City of Messolonghi.