The music legend's dream was finally realised.
The Tsitsanis Museum opened its doors in Trikala, realising the dream of the great folk composer himself, Vassilis Tsitsanis, who, in 1980, at a concert in the city's stadium, called for the creation of a folk music museum.
The Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, inaugurated the Research Center of Music-Museum Vassilis Tsitsanis and the Twin Ottoman Bath in the city of Trikala in the presence of the Regional Governor of Thessaly Dimitris Kouretas and the Mayor of Trikala, Nikos Sakkas.
The project, with a budget of 2.8 million euros, was implemented by the Ministry of Culture under the auspices of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Trikala and the Municipality of Trikala, with funding from the Regional Operational Program of Thessaly.
This program allowed the restoration and conversion of the Old Trikala Prison building into a visitable monument and museum space, the Research Center of Music-Museum Vassilis Tsitsanis.
"With the establishment of the Tsitsanis Museum, the city acquires a new landmark. All this provides huge financial opportunity for the city of Trikala, which must be utilised for the good of the local community," Mendoni said in her greeting.
"We must appeal to our roots, to our past, to build a secure future. At the same time, Culture is a very important economic driver of development, which must be exploited to the maximum and strengthen the local economy," she added.
In 2006, with the transfer of the Old Trikala Prison, the building was handed over to the local community and municipality. The restoration process and the new uses it could host began. At that time, the municipality undertook the project of creating a museum for folk music.
"What is interesting", Lina Mendoni pointed out, "and should not be left behind, is that in addition to the Tsitsanis Museum - the leading representative of folk music - the Municipality of Trikala has founded the Research Center of Music-Museum Vassilis Tsitsanis. Thus, the city of Trikala becomes a point of reference for preserving and promoting Greece's intangible cultural heritage and creation."
"This can add a lot of value and comparative advantages to the city. Tsitsanis and rebetiko music need scientific research. It is not behind the fado of Portugal. The spread and prestige of fado can easily be achieved by rebetiko music, thanks to the Research Center of Music-Museum Vassilis Tsitsanis," the minister stressed.
After the completion of the southern leg of the Central Greece Motorway, the city of Trikala, which shows dynamic development and appeals to innovation, will be easily accessible with the shortening of the distance between Athens and southern Greece.
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