The Open-air Water Museum ( el, Υπαίθριο Μουσείο Νερού) is located in the city of

Edessa Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene ...

Central Macedonia Central Macedonia ( el, Κεντρική Μακεδονία, Kentrikí Makedonía, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece, consisting of the central part of the geographical and historical region of Macedonia. With a populat ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. In the early 20th century there were many water-powered workshops in the city. In 1991 the Municipality of Edessa decided to improve and develop the Mills area, the Kannavourgio and the ‘Estia’ works, by establishing an open air, water-power museum, and creating recreation areas. The Open-Air Water Museum, which opened early in 2000, aims to acquaint visitors with the history of water-power from the workshops of

pre-industrial Pre-industrial society refers to social attributes and forums of political and cultural organization that were prevalent before the advent of the Industrial Revolution, which occurred from 1750 to 1850. ''Pre-industrial'' refers to a time before ...

times up to the early 20th century. The museum consists of the buildings of the Mills area and the

Old Hemp Factory of Edessa The Hemp Factory ( el, Κανναβουργείο) of Edessa, Greece, was an industrial unit focused on the creation of ropes from Indian hemp twine. It was the largest of the four hemp factories in Greece, in production and facilities. It is also ...

. Within this area there are two

flour mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...

s, with their grinding machinery, a water mill and a sesame mill, complete with equipment and capable of operation. They are restored buildings containing authentic machinery which was in use until the mid-1960s. Visitors are therefore able to see how flour and

sesame Sesame ( or ; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a flowering plant in the genus ''Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cu ...

were processed. In one of the flour-mills there is an aquarium with fish from Lake Agra-Nissi in Vretta, which is the only aquarium in Greece with fresh-water fish. On the same site there is a row of small shops, a multi-purpose hall, a recreation area and an open-air cinema. There are many water channels on the site.

File:Macedonian_Museums-55-Mouseio_Neroy_Edessas-242.jpg, External view of the cordage and rope mill File:Macedonian_Museums-55-Mouseio_Neroy_Edessas-243.jpg, Production section of the cordage and rope mill File:Macedonian_Museums-55-Mouseio_Neroy_Edessas-244.jpg, Production section of the cordage and rope mill File:Macedonian_Museums-55-Mouseio_Neroy_Edessas-245.jpg, Water driven machinery

References

External links

Official Website
{{coord missing, Greece History museums in Greece Museums in Edessa, Greece Industry museums in Greece