Historical Archives Museum of Hydra

The Historical Archives Museum of Hydra (Istoriko Archeio Mouseio Ydras) occupies an elegant three storey mansion at the eastern end of the port, right where the seafront ends at a small fishermen’s quay. You will spot it from a distance: it is a cream coloured neoclassical building with wooden balconies, clearly more institutional than the houses around it. Unlike the Lazaros Koundouriotis Mansion, which focuses on the domestic life of one well off captain, this museum tells the collective history of the island through documents, flags, maps, weapons and personal effects of various figures from the war of independence.

The collection is arranged chronologically. It begins in the 18th century with the golden age of maritime trade: there are models of the great Hydriot ships (some three masted and carrying more than 30 cannon), account books, trade contracts with Italian and French ports, navigation instruments (sextants, compasses, charts) and documents from the first National Maritime Treasury that the island set up to finance itself. The most striking room is the one devoted to 1821-1827, the revolutionary years: here you will find the original flags that flew on the Hydriot ships, the personal letters of Andreas Miaoulis (admiral of the revolutionary fleet) and weapons such as engraved pistols and officers’ sabres. There is a particularly curious panel with the decrees of the first Greek government, signed on Hydra itself over several months, when the island served as the provisional capital of the newly independent country.

The building also has a temporary exhibition room on the ground floor, where shows rotate every few months. In recent years there have been exhibitions on 19th century travel photography, on the Greek diaspora in Marseille and Trieste and on the role of women in the war of independence. The upper floor holds a small reference library open to researchers by appointment.

On the downsides: allow between 1 hour and an hour and a half for a full visit with time to read the labels (in Greek and English). The texts are dense and, if Greek historical context is new to you, they can be heavy going; in that case the best move is to watch the 12 minute introductory documentary first, which plays on a loop in the ground floor room (with English subtitles). There is no audio guide. Photography is allowed without flash in most of the rooms, but some manuscripts sit under glass in dim light and are hard to photograph. Accessibility for people with reduced mobility is limited: there is no lift and the upper floor means climbing two flights of marble stairs.

The opening hours are flexible in summer (some years they also open at night in July and August, from 19:30 to 21:30) but very restrictive in winter, when it can end up closed several days a week. If you are coming outside high season, check the hours by phone or on the museum website before walking up here: more than one visitor has arrived to find the door shut. Entry costs 5 € general and 3 € reduced; under 18s go free. They take cards. There is a small shop with reproductions of old maps, books about Hydra and postcards, the only official place selling the books published by the foundation itself. It is probably the densest cultural visit on Hydra, ideal to combine with the Koundouriotis Mansion for a half day morning given over to history. After the two museums, head down to the port for lunch and take another look at the quayside promenade: many of the houses that struck you before as “pretty houses” will start to read as captains’ mansions with stories behind them.