Vryssaki, one of the old houses of the historic district of Plaka, for its second decade, is planning its transformation into a Plaka Living Museum, where the visitor will have the opportunity to live like an Athenian and participate in the creation of a special cultural experience,a different one each day. Adapted from the historicity of the place, we look for the missing pieces to compose and tell the story of Vryssaki and its lost neighborhood.

 

Our vision is to create the first “Plaka Living Museum” by highlighting the meeting points of old and new. We seek to develop a narrative environment that will allow the co-creation of the history of this characteristic and beloved Athenian house, as well as the wider district of Plaka. 

 

We seek to converse with local residents, either through the study of historical sources, or through interviews and participatory creative actions, in order to collect their testimonies and share them with visitors from Greece and abroad. At the same time, we will create mechanisms for collecting stories and impressions of visitors from their current experiences in Plaka. We therefore plan to create and implement experiences that will be able to engage the audience as authentically as possible with the cultural heritage of Athens.

The programme of activities and experiences that we are preparing is called “Live like an Athenian” and aims at the active participation of visitors (Greeks and tourists) in the local culture and in the daily life of Plaka. The programme’s experiences will be addressed to a wide range of ages and interests. Indicatively it will include:

 

-Learn how to make traditional Greek sweets but also the secrets of Greek coffee.

 

-Getting to know traditional outdoor games in the yard, such as pentovola, karamana, rope.

 

-embroidery lessons inspired by motifs and details from Athenian folk art.

 

-Philosophy classes for visitors to modern Athens in simple language for theories and classical philosophical topics.

 

–Bakery lessons and all the secrets for traditional cookies and traditional bakeries.

 

-Rebetico nights full of songs by Tsitsanis and Vamvakaris and, of course, wine.

 

-Traditional dance classes, with dances from Athens and all over Greece.

 

To implement our program, we need partners who believe in our vision. We invite you to help us with this effort, so that together we can discover and bring to light the lost neighborhoods of Historical Athens. Together we can act as a catalyst for the participation of Athenians in the historical narrative of their city, the education of the public, the utilization of the cultural heritage of the Historic Center and the activation of the cultural tourism of Athens