Silversmithing Museum & Local Community of Kalarites

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A visit to Kalarites must include a tour of the Silversmithing Museum, housed in the stone building of the old primary school in the heart of the village. Outstanding goldsmiths originate from this hamlet, the most famous of whom is Vulgaris (Bulgari).

The exhibition presents the tools and equipment used in traditional silversmithing and the relevant technology as it developed through time. Visitors are impressed with the silversmithing end-products, truly reflecting local craftsmanship. Exhibits span the period from the 18th to the 20th centuries.

There are two parts to the exhibition: The exhibits of the first hall are various devices used to process metal, along with their accessories and silversmiths’ tools. Those of the second hall are end-products made by local silversmiths. Items exhibited include household utensils and decorative objects, jewellery made with thin wire, cast or manufactured using the niello (savati) technique, accessories of local traditional costumes, personal items and tobacco aficionado items, church utensils, etc.

Kalarites is situated at the edge of a sheer cliff at an altitude of 1200m, with the Kalarytikos river flowing below. Within the hamlet, there are wonderful mansions and quaint cobblestone lanes, arched bridges, wonderfully adorned fountains, all of them excellently crafted, reflecting local folk architecture. The feasts of the area are many and always entail music and dancing. The four basic musical instruments are the clarinet (klarino), the fiddle, the lute, and the tambourine. Music, singing, and dancing are integral parts of mountain life and people’s vocations. Main festivities and reunion events (andamomata) are held on:

Zoodochos Pigi feast (the Friday of the Bright week) after Easter at Kipina
Agia Paraskevi feast (26 July)
The Assumption of the Virgin at St. Nicolas Church (15 August)
St. Nicolas feast (6 December)
National Holiday: The first weekend of July, every year there is a two-day event of “Memory, Tribute and Gratitude”