Costume Museum of Kastoria

The Costume Museum is located in the picturesque area of Doltcho. It is housed in a magnificent mansion of 1750, which belongs to the Emmanuel Brothers. The peculiarity of this building lies in the fact that it is built quite sideways, due to the location of the land. The building is three storeys high and there were extensions on both the east and north sides, which do not exist today. Looking closely at the exterior, we can see the “eyebrow” around the stones, which was formed by the hand of the craftsman. As for the owners of the building, the brothers Emmanuel, Panagiotis (an accountant by profession) and Ioannis (a medical student), they were prominent personalities who participated in the organization of the 1821 revolution, as they collaborated with Rigas Ferraios (one of the most prominent figures of the Greek revolution). Entering the Museum, the visitor notices the low temperature on the ground floor, as this space was used as a storage room for the household’s food. Climbing up the wooden staircase to the 1^st floor, one can admire the costumes that exist and relate to the wider region of the Prefecture of Kastoria (Choriatika). Moving around the space we can discover the secret room of the house. All the houses of that time somehow either communicated with each other or had secret rooms which were used to avoid the arrest of wanted persons by the Turkish authorities. Continuing on the 2^nd floor, the visitor can see the traditional costumes of the city of Kastoria. One can distinguish the expensive fabrics from which they are made. The fabrics were coming from Europe and even from Damascus, due to the occupation of Kastorians with trade.
In the background on the left one can see a special female uniform, which Queen Amalia chose to wear when she came to Greece. She toured many places to decide which uniform would be the official one she would wear and she chose the uniform of Kastoria. Among the costumes one can also distinguish the fez, especially in the women’s uniform, with the golden tassel (as opposed to the men’s with the black tassel). In the next room we have the “tzoubes” (women’s coat) which is lined with whole skins, proof that there was also processing of whole skins beyond the scraps that were processed in Kastoria. In the next room the visitor should carefully observe the details of the room. The configuration, the decorations (vine, doves), the recesses in the walls. All this suggests that this room may have been a private church in the mansion and that it may have been a place of worship and ceremonies during the difficult years of the Turkish occupation.
In the museum one can get an idea of the way and quality of life of the inhabitants of the region and the relations of the people of Kastoria with Europe and the rest of the world.