The Chora Museum

Finds from the Palace of Nestor and nearby tombs are on display in the Chora Museum.

Here the visitor can see much of the material mentioned in this guide, along with plans and reconstruction drawings that bring the ruins of the site to life. In front of the museum stand two busts: one of Carl Blegen, and the other of the Greek archaeologist Spyridon Marinatos, who excavated a number of grave sites in the Pylos region.

In each room of the museum the cases along the wall are numbered counterclockwise, starting to the right of the doorway as one enters. An appendix summarizes the material case by case; here follows a briefer summary, mentioning only a few items likely to interest the nonspecialist.

Room 1 The Mycenaean pottery exhibited in room 1 covers the full span of time from the earliest Late Helladic period, ca. 1650 B.C., to the end of the palace age, ca. 1200 B.C. Also on display is some much later pottery of the Hellenistic and Roman periods (for example, CASE I, top shef) when some of the Volimidia tombs were used for cult rituals.

CASE 3, along the right-hand wall, shows the rich contents of two Early Mycenaean tholos tombs at Routsi near the village of Myrsinochori south of Chora. Tholos 2 was found unrobbed, a rarity in Mycenaean archaeology, and yielded swords, a dagger, and other equipment of bronze, as well as fine Early Mycenaean pottery (CASE 3, bottom shelf).

CASE 9 in the center toward the back of the room contains gold vessels and jewelry from three tholos tombs at Peristeria, on a hill just east of Kyparissia. Large cups with spiral decoration stand above decorative pieces of sheet gold in a variety of shapes (leaves, flowers, owls, etc.), some so small that a magnifying glass is needed to appreciate the fine workmanship that went into them. Some larger jars from Routsi and Peristeria are on display outside the cases; the designs show the influence of Minoan Crete.

CASE 1 Material from tombs at Volimi-dia
Top: Hellenistic and Roman pottery from Angelopoulos chamber tombs 4, 5, 7
Middle: Mycenaean pottery and other finds from Angelopoulos chamber tombs 8, 11
Bottom: Roman and Mycenaean pottery and Mycenaean spindle whorls from Volimidia tombs

CASE 2 Mycenaean material from tombs at Volimidia
Top: Pottery and spindle whorls from Vorias chamber tomb 1
Middle: Pottery and other finds from Vorias chamber tombs 4, 7
Bottom: Pottery and other finds from Vorias chamber tombs 3, 6

CASE 3 Material from Pylia and Triphylia districts
Top: Casual finds of Mycenaean and Protogeometric pottery, axes, and other finds
Mycenaean pottery and other finds, Hellenistic pottery from Papoulia tholos 3
Middle: Pottery, weapons, scales, and other finds from Routsi tholos 1 (Early Mycenaean)
Bottom: Pottery, weapons, and other finds from Routsi tholos 2 (Early Mycenaean)

CASE 4 Material from Vbroulia and Volimidia
Top: Early Mycenaean pottery from Tragana-Voroulia storeroom
Middle: Mycenaean pottery and other finds from Kephalovryso shaft grave 1 at Vblimidia
Bottom: Pottery and other finds from Kephalovryso chamber tomb 3 and pit grave at Volimidia

CASE 5 Material from Peristeria and Tragana
Top: Pottery and other finds from Peristeria hill, including some black-glazed Hellenistic vessels
Middle: Pottery and other finds from Peristeria hill
Bottom: Pottery, boars' teeth, sealstones and other finds from Tragana tholos 1, 2, including a Hellenistic bowl and lamp

CASE 6 Material from tombs at Volimidia and Chora
Top: Pottery from Kephalovryso shaft grave 2, chamber tombs 5, 6 at Volimidia
Middle: Pottery and other finds from Koronios chamber tombs 2, 3, 5, 6 at Volimidia
Bottom: Pottery and other finds from Kephalovryso chamber tombs 4, 7; Mastoraki chamber tomb 1 at Volimidia; Ayios Elias chamber tomb 1 at Chora

CASE 7 Material from tombs at Volimidia
Top: Pottery from Angelopoulos chamber tomb 6
Middle: Pottery and other finds from Angelopoulos chamber tomb 6
Bottom: Pottery and other finds from Angelopoulos chamber tomb 7

CASE 8 Material from tombs at Volimidia
Top: Mycenaean and Hellenistic pottery from Angelopoulos chamber tombs 1,2,9,10
Middle: Mycenaean and Protogeometric pottery and other finds from Angelopoulos chamber tomb 5
Bottom: Mycenaean and later pottery and other finds from Angelopoulos chamber tomb 4

CASE 9 Material from Peristeria tholos 1,2,3
Outside cases: Pottery from tombs at Volimidia, Papoulia, Routsi, Peristeria, and Tragana