Tracing the history of northern Greece's watermill technology 🌍

The refurbished Folk Art and Ethnological Museum of Macedonia and Thrace, reopened on the 11th May with a exhibition entitled "Mills of Macedonia and Thrace: Watermills, Water-powered Saws, Fulling Devices and Beetling Mills in Traditional Society".

The museum had been closed for 8 years, due to lack of money for a needed refurbishment.

Copies of water powered machines were built at the museum, and now produce flour and demonstrate the fulling and beetling processes.

Museum research has located 2081 water-mills, mainly in Naoussa, Edessa and Rhodope, (with 31 working); 138 water-powered saw (3 in use); 140 beetling mills plus 165 fulling devices (very few in use, mostly for washing carpet ecologically).