An ark of Thracian relics from Athens to Komotini – Observer of Thrace | Observer of Thrace
Items from the Collection of George Arvanitis were exhibited for two days in the foyer of the Komotini Concert Hall
The first object of the Thracian Collection of Mr. George Arvanitis, which today includes thousands of items, including 500 costumes, acquired it at the age of 11 years. This is an amp, a male jacket of his great-grandfather, which he brought from Ortaxi in Eastern Thrace.
Since then, and for the next 45 years, Mr. Arvanitis has collected an impressive number of relics, from all over Thrace, where Hellenism extended until the beginning of the 20thου century, with the prospect of creating a Museum of Thracian Heritage in Athens, in order to become as many Greeks as possible of the vast culture of Thrace, lost over the years.
Some of these costumes, along with icons, destination items, and even bridal beds, were exhibited throughout the weekend in the foyer of the Komotini Concert Hall, as part of the Anniversary Conference entitled: “Thrace in the years of liberation-integration with Greece” .
The volume of heirlooms that have been collected require a separate storage space, according to Mr. Arvanitis, who after the encouragement of the Regional Governor Mr. Christos Metios and the Executive Secretariat Mr. Zois Kosmidou, agreed to bring them to our city, as part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Free Thrace.
Over 500 costumes
The Collection includes exhibits of Thrace, from costumes to items that present all aspects of the daily life of its inhabitants, from urban centers to settlements.
Mr. Arvanitis has in his collection about 500 costumes, a small part of the presentations in Komotini. Among them are the uniform of Amalia, who belongs to Ainos, as well as Gagauz costumes Arvanitika, from the 9 villages, from Marides, from Eastern Romulia, even the Soufliotika with all-silk. “All this shows that the culture of Thrace is huge,” he noted.
Among the other works, are included original documents, tsevredes, jewelry, embroidery, art textiles, objects of folk art and the mansion of Thrace.
The goal is to create a Museum of Thracian Heritage
“This collection started at the age of 11, with the first acquisition of an amba, a large jacket of my great-grandfather that he brought from the Ortaxia of Eastern Thrace,” he noted, and from there he began to collect, for almost 45 years, various items.
All this effort is made out of backwardness and not from his surplus, he hastened to clarify himself, confessing that some things have been given to him, while others he asked for with great difficulty, and they have given them to him, as “for some it is a little . “It is difficult to offer a heirloom that they have from Thrace,” he said.
The purpose for which he always gathered all this, was to create a Museum of Thracian Heritage in the center of Greece, in Athens. “People are leaving, objects are staying, and we should all try to stay in the memory of Thracian culture,” he said.
And this memory can be contained from the largest to the smallest objects, which is why in the collection there are stamps from the liberation of 1913, with the inscription Gumoultzina and Dedeagac, stamps of the High Commission of Eastern Thrace etc.
At the same time he wants to highlight unknown aspects of the tradition of Thrace, such as the copanelia, which while many think they had only in the Ionian Islands, the whole of Thrace had.
Continuous search for heirlooms
Searching for these relics is not an easy task, and unfortunately many of them have been destroyed. “Too many people had a tendency to get away from them, and unfortunately too many heirlooms and works of art were thrown into the fire, because there was a tendency when someone dies to get off their clothes, to get the weight off them,” he said. Arvanitis, something that characterized the vandalism of tradition.
Fortunately, some people did not follow this tactic, he noted, and so the items remained.
Some still keep them in order to give them to their relatives, something positive according to Mr. Arvanitis, but he considers that if someone does not have to give these heirlooms to a relative, it would be best to give them, so that the continuation of Thracian Culture.
“Having two zebras in a drawer is good, but when there are 500 together, you can see the nobility and the continuation of the zebra, starting from the double-sided ones, which are identically embroidered, until the 80’s when it was stamped. . “and they bought yarn and embroidered it,” he said.
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