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Municipality of Athens Folk Art and Tradition Centre

 

The Centre of Folk Art and Tradition of the Municipality of Athens was founded in 1980. It is housed in the residence of the great Greek folklore scholar Angeliki Hatzimichali in Plaka at the junction of Hatzimichali and Geronta Street.

The house, which was designed in 1924 by the architect Aristotelis Zachos, incorporates traditional and modern stylistic elements. The interior woodcut decoration was designed by Hatzimichali herself. Her personal items are thematically displayed throughout the house according to the function of each room.

The centre has a rich folklore library with ethnographic material and documents from Greece and the Balkans, which reflects its aim to preserve and promote the folklore cultural heritage.

Angeliki Hatzimichali

Angeliki Hatzimichali was born in Athens in 1895. Her father, Alexios Kolivas, came from Zante. He was editor of the newspaper ‘Proïa” and collector of Byzantine icons. His daughter also showed an interest in folklore traditions.

Silver-gilt brooch from Attica, adorned with glass stones and used with the "tzakos" From a young age and at a time when the Athens bourgeoisie was greatly influenced by western European culture, Angeliki Hatzimichali turned her attention to the collection and study of everyday objects of folklore traditions (woodcut, embroideries, ceramics etc.). She was one of the most prominent members of the “Lyceum club of Greek Women” and in 1920 she founded a branch of the Lyceum in Smyrna.

Hatzimichali traveled all over Greece and wrote numerous studies on folklore traditions, among which was her very important three-volume book on the Sarakatsani, a semi-nomadic people of northern Greece. She also founded numerous organizations for the promotion of folklore culture, most importantly the Association of Greek Handicraft, forerunner of the Hellenic Organization of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises and Handicrafts.

She also took an active part in the revival of the Delphic Celebrations, organized by Angelos and Eva Sikelianos. She contributed to the relief and social rehabilitation of the Greek refugees of 1922 and actively participated in the Resistance against German rule during World War II. Angeliki Hatzimichali died in 1966.

Opening hours Opening hours and admission
Locaton map
6, Hatzimichali and Geronta Street - Plaka
Nearest metro stationSyntagma -Monastiraki - Acropoli Top

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