:: Museum of the Macedonian Struggle at Thessaloniki

The Museum of the Macedonian Struggle opened in 1981 in a Neoclassical building that was built (financed by the national benefactor Andreas Syngros) in the centre of Thessaloniki at the end of the 19^th century and designed by Ernst Ziller. The building housed the Greek consulate general from 1893 to 1912. The museum is privately owned and is run by the Association of Friends of the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle.

The most important exhibits are the weaponry, the uniforms, the memorabilia, and the personal effects of the leaders of the Macedonian Struggle (1904–8), numerous other uniforms, and a collection of 1,350 contemporary photographs. There are also explanatory maps, books, newspapers, and paintings of the Macedonian landscape in the late 19^th and early 20^th century. The exhibits occupy seven rooms and are grouped as follows: Macedonia before the outbreak of the Struggle; the struggle in western Macedonia; the consulate and the organisation of Thessaloniki; the office of the consul Lambros Koromilas; the role of the people of Macedonia in the Struggle; the Struggle in central and eastern Macedonia; the Struggle in the Yannitsa marshes; and the events in Macedonia after the end of the Struggle and the Young Turks’ revolution.

In the basement there are life-size dioramas of scenes from the Struggle: a school at the beginning of the 20^th century; the Patriarchists’ struggle to preserve their churches from the assaults of the Exarchists; the action of Greek corps on Yannitsa lake; and the arrival of a spy in Florina. On the first floor there is an audio-visual system with films relating to the history of Macedonia.

The museum offers the public guided tours (booked in advance) and educational games. There is also a lending department for photographic displays and video films. The research centre has put together abundant archival material from the period 1870–1912 on microfilm and databases on the local history of Macedonia.