An important international distinction, the “European Museum of the Year Award” (EMYA 2024), received the salt museum which operates in Messolonghi.

Specifically, in the framework of highlighting the museum of the year 2024, the European Museum Forum, which belongs to the Council of Europe, awarded the Salt Museum the Portimão Prize, during an official ceremony held a few days ago in the city of the same name in Portugal.

Speaking to the Athenian – Macedonian News Agency, the director of the museum, Miss Kanelliemphasized that “this award is a huge distinction with international appeal, as it is one of the most important that is awarded worldwide to museums” and added: “The value of the award is even greater, when you take into account the fact that to claim it they participated, after a selection of expert evaluators, 50 museums from 29 European countries with very high standards in terms of technology, area, personnel and financial data”.

Regarding the reasoning of the jury, which decided to award the prize to the Salt museum, Despina Kanelli says: “The jury decided that the Salt museum is a museum full of heart and humility that makes a difference. A museum that promotes a shared sense of history, industrial heritage and environmental sustainability. A particularly welcoming, dynamic and attractive museum that makes visitors feel at home.”

“For this reason”, continues Despina Kanelli, “the jury classified and included the Alatos museum in the list of awarded cultural institutions in Europe, among which, from the Greek side, the Byzantine Museum of Thessaloniki which had been awarded 20 years ago and the Folklore Museum of Ioanna Papantoniou in Nafplion, which was awarded 40 years ago”.

At the same time, Despina Kanelli notes that “this is one of the most important distinctions awarded every year, to pioneering museums of a new generation and to museums that were founded or underwent an extensive renovation in the last five years, as a result of which they significantly contribute to the strengthening and progress of society and in attracting visitors, through innovative, creative and extroverted approaches”.

Regarding how the evaluation process of the Alatos museum began, Despina Kanelli describes: “We were discovered by Yiannis Markakis of the ‘Lychnostatis’ museum of Crete, who is the national representative of the European Museum Forum and encouraged us to submit the application. This process continued with the selection and invitation of the Salt museum to compile a file and send it to the EMF.

Then, a Dutch judge of the EMF visited the museum last September, took a tour, checked the premises and its operation, spoke with visitors, but also with the people of the city of Messolonghi and found that the strict specifications of the nomination are met.”

Subsequently, two other judges came to the museum last November, without us knowing their status, where they lived the experience of the ordinary visitor and submitted their own proposals to the jury.

Last December, the jury met in the city of Portimao, Portugal, and from the many nominations from all over Europe, they finally decided on the fifty for the ‘European Museum of the Year’, among which was the Salt Museum.

Despina Kanelli then reports that “we went to Portugal at the beginning of May, where during a big event we presented the museum, which had been included in the category, museums of industrial heritage”.

Arriving on the day of the awarding of the Salt museum, Despina Kanelli describes with emotion what followed: “At one point one of the judges came up to the stage and mentioned the reasons for which it was decided to give the Portimão prize, which is named after the city that hosted the event , simultaneously analyzing the reasoning of the jury, but without mentioning the museum.

Then spoke a representative of the municipality, who also mentioned the reasons why it was decided to give the award to the museum that followed. Immediately afterwards, the director of the Portimão museum took the stage, opened the envelope and announced that the prize was being awarded to the Salt Museum.

At that moment I thought I was having a dream and I couldn’t believe that we had won the award. But, it was true. So I found the strength, got up from my seat and together with Nikos Kordosis, who is the founder of the speech and art center ‘Dieksodos’ on whose initiative the Salt museum was founded, we went up on stage and received the award”.

Regarding what the award signifies for the Salt Museum, Despina Kanelli says: “The important thing for us is that now the Salt Museum is becoming known internationally and at the same time the position of our country on the international map of museums is being strengthened. At the same time, we are already recording an increase in visitors from European countries and beyond, while this increase in traffic has a positive impact for the city of Messolonghi.”

After all, as he adds, “it is touching the way in which Messolonghi received the museum’s award, an award that is also a success for the city itself”.

In fact, as he typically says, “in the reasoning behind the award, it is stated that the museum is being awarded, because it has been embraced by the local community, while from our side, what we give back to society is very important”.

The Salt museum

The Salt Museum is the first and only thematic salt museum in Greece and operates in Tourlid of Messolonghiin the salt flats and next to the lagoon.

The museum was founded on the initiative of the speech and art center “Dieksodos”, which is a non-profit private cultural organization, the founder of which, as mentioned above, is Nikos Kordosis.

Nikos Kordosis had spoken in an APE-MEP tribute about the Salt museum and had mentioned, among other things: “The visitor to the museum will learn everything related to salt from its first appearance on the planet, up to our days, i.e. the its relationship with the economy, health, agriculture, animal husbandry, environment, tourism and religion.

He will be informed about the 14,000 uses of salt, he will get to know the types of salts, the variety of their colors and their grain size. He will be informed about the active and abandoned salt pans of the whole country. He will see works of art by artists inspired by salt, but also the unique, known in Greece, collection of 1,500 salt shakers dating from 1800 to the present day.

Going up to the observatory you will watch the salt cultivation and production process, see its old harvesting machines and enjoy the magic of the lagoon and the life of the hundreds of rare birds that are endemic to the area’s exceptional wetland. He will also be informed about the salt flats of all Greece, but also about the history of the salt flats of Messolonghi which date back to the 14th century”.

Regarding the establishment of the Salt Museum, Nikos Kordosis had said: “The Salt Museum, just like the historical museum of “Diexodos”, was created without subsidies and belonging to any form of national or European program, but only with the soul and the savings of the founder of “Diexodos” and his family, the support of the city municipality and the practical love of his partners and friends”.