The Industrial Museum of Ermoupoli occupies a restored 19th-century building on the harbour waterfront and documents the astonishing industrial history of the island — the shipyards, the textile mills, the tanneries, and the trading houses that made Ermoupoli, for a few decades in the mid-1800s, the commercial capital of Greece.
The collection includes machinery, tools, photographs, and archival documents that bring the industrial era to life. It's a story that is barely known outside Greece, which makes it all the more interesting: a small Aegean island that industrialised before the mainland, attracted workers from across the country, and then declined just as Athens was rising. The museum is part of the Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation network and is generally well maintained.