The Environment Museum of Stymphalia, a member of the Thematic Museum Network of the Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation, was created beneath the slopes of Mt Oligyrtos, where, according to mythology, Heracles confronted the Stymphalian birds. A significant wetland, Stymphalia is considered the largest of its kind in the Peloponnese, listed under the NATURA 2000 European Network of Protected Areas. Its main attractions reside in its wealth of flora and fauna, as well as in the underground and visible passages along which the water circulates.

The museum’s basic goals are to raise ecological awareness and preserve and propagate the wisdom of traditional know-how. The exhibits are therefore arranged in two thematic units: the first concerns the natural environment in the region and the second explores how the environment contributed to the evolution of man’s involvement with nature and of traditional occupations in particular. 

Various mediums (scale models, interactive applications, digital representations, and documentary films) are used to allow a better understanding of the exhibition’s content. However, the exhibition’s highlight – and a first in Greece – is a reconstructed cross-section of the lake with live fish and plants that are endemic to the area.

The building itself, is also noteworthy, as it was distinguished at the Architecture Awards of the Hellenic Institute of Architecture.

Ending the tour, a few moments out on the wooden deck should not be missed. With a spectacular view over Lake Stymphalia and the surrounding fir-covered hills, this is the place to ponder on the bond between man and nature, and on how harmonious coexistence between the two has allowed places of such beauty to endure through time.