The Ministry of Culture and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Messenia are pleased to present to the public the temporary exhibition entitled “Princes of Pylos. Treasures of the Bronze Age from Messenia”, which will open on Friday, February 14, at the Archaeological Museum of Messenia, located in the Historical Centre of Kalamata.

The exhibition focuses on showcasing the Mycenaean cultural identity of Messenia as it began to take shape in the late Middle Helladic and early Late Helladic periods (17th–14th centuries BC), and as it evolved until the end of the 13th century BC, when almost the entire Messenian territory was under the control of the Kingdom of Pylos.

From early on, Messenia attracted the interest of archaeologists and researchers, both Greek and foreign, who, inspired by the Homeric epics, took on the challenge of uncovering aspects of the Mycenaean world of Messenia. The abundance of finds that have come to light were grave offerings, burial gifts that accompanied their owners to their tombs—such as tholos tombs, the most characteristic and widespread type of funerary monument in Messenia already from the early Mycenaean period, just before the end of the 17th century BC.

Tholos and chamber tombs from Peristeria, Eglianos, Routsi of Mirsinokhori, Koukounara, Tragana, Nichoria, Dara, Antheia, and Psari have yielded a multitude of valuable and elaborate grave goods symbolizing the virtues of their owners as well as the religious beliefs of the era.

Eminent archaeologists such as Konstantinos Kourouniotis, Spyridon Marinatos, and Georgios Korres, along with interdisciplinary research missions from American universities and excavations conducted by the Ministry of Culture and the local Ephorate of Antiquities, have managed to trace, to a great extent, the cultural wealth and spirit of a period in which dynamic and distinguished personalities stood out for their martial and hunting skills and appear to have exercised significant power over local centers, especially in western and northwestern Messenia. Rivaling one another, these local rulers engaged in the trade of raw materials such as gold, copper, ivory, amber, glass paste, faience, and semi-precious stones, shaping an extensive network of commercial and cultural exchanges with other centers in Minoan Crete, the Mediterranean, and Europe.

The outward-looking nature that characterizes Messenian culture in the early Mycenaean period is most impressively crystallized in the grave goods from the so-called “Griffin Warrior” tomb on the hill of Eglianos, excavated in exemplary fashion in 2015 by archaeologists Jack Davis and Sharon Stocker of the University of Cincinnati. The luxury and craftsmanship of the objects, the materials used, and the astonishing skill in rendering iconographic scenes on small surfaces highlight the prestige, power, and wealth of their owner — a member of the aristocracy of the time, honored above all by being buried alone, like a prince, in a shaft grave that one might imagine as a treasure chamber filled with precious objects.

Finds from the Griffin Warrior’s tomb, along with those from tholos and chamber tombs on the summit and slopes of the Eglianos hill, attest to the gradual development of this local center — Mycenaean Pylos — which appears to have prevailed in the region, incorporating other centers and evolving into the capital of a political and territorial domain that, by the 13th century BC, encompassed all of Messenia. Excavations conducted in 1939 and during the 1950s and 1960s by the American archaeological mission under Carl Blegen revealed the extensive palatial complex at Ano Eglianos — the Palace of Nestor — the seat and administrative, economic, and geographic hub of Mycenaean Messenia.

Representative finds from the Palace of Pylos complement and complete the exhibition’s journey through the Mycenaean world. Objects from earlier excavations, along with newly presented finds shown to the public for the first time, engage in a dialogue with each other and narrate their stories with refined elegance — in an endless interaction with all of us.

We invite you to enjoy this experience.