Komboloi Museum
In April 1998, Mr. and Mrs. Evangelinos established the first, and still unique in the world, Komboloi Museum. The komboloi are strings of beads, often referred to as worry beads or prayer beads.
The couple began their journey on the “road of Komboloi” in 1963 with a visit to Alexandria, Egypt. Their research continued over the years, bringing them in contact with Hinduists, Buddhists, Muslims, Catholics and Greeks (from Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt etc.) and gaining insight about these wonderful strings of beads. Over time they built a unique collection of almost a thousand komboloi, with pieces dating back as far as 1700, up through the 1950s. Their collections include strings with beads made of pure amber, mastic-amber, faturan-amber, black (yusuri) and red coral, ivory, bone, horn, ebony, and many other varieties.
Artifacts are exhibited in chronological order in four different halls of the museum:
Hall A: Hinduistic-Buddhistic-Muslim artifacts
Hall B: Catholic and Monastery Rosaries
Halls C and D: Greek artifacts
Tours are available and visitors can purchase exact replicas of many of the strings from East. There are countless varieties of other styles of komboloi available as well. To date, the museum, which is under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture, has had over 75,000 visitors and has received attention from international press (including The New York Times, National Geographic and BBC).
To learn more, or to plan your visit to the Museum:
www.komboloi.gr
25 Staikopoulou St.
Nafplion 21100, Argolida Greece
Tel-Fax : 003 27520 21618
e-mail :komuseum@otenet.gr
