Naval Maritime Museum

The Naval Maritime Museum in Oia, officially the Maritime Museum of Thera (Ναυτικό Μουσείο Θήρας), tells the story of the captains, shipowners and crews whose trade paid for the village you see today. It fills a restored 19th-century captain’s mansion close to the main pedestrian street, standard admission is €5, and most visitors need 30 to 60 minutes. If you want more from Oia than a sunset photo, this is one of the calmest cultural stops in the village.

Why Oia’s maritime history matters

In the 19th century, Santorini’s sailing ships worked routes across the eastern Mediterranean, from the Black Sea to Egypt. They carried Theran volcanic earth used in building the Suez Canal, along with Vinsanto, the island’s sweet wine, which Orthodox churches in the Russian Empire used for Holy Communion for many years. That trade paid for Oia’s captain’s mansions, while many crew families lived in the cave houses cut into the cliff below them.

Once you know this, the village reads differently. The grand houses along the ridge and the simpler cave homes beneath them reflect the gap between the people who owned the ships and the people who sailed them. The museum explains that history in a compact visit, which makes it an easy cultural addition to a wider Santorini itinerary built around caldera views.

What you will see inside

The museum covers three levels and two courtyards, and the rooms still feel like parts of a family house. The main displays, as described after the 2023 renovation, are:

• An entrance courtyard with a three-metre anchor, a cast-iron capstan, a board of sailors’ knots and ropes from old sailing ships.
• A ground floor dominated by the top section of a 19th-century sailing ship’s mast, plus the lathe and tools of Antonis Chalaris, known as Mastrantonis, the last shipwright in Oia.
• The mansion’s old kitchen, now set up as a captain’s office, library and archive of 19th- and 20th-century maritime documents.
• A west courtyard with a working Second World War submarine periscope built in 1942, and an exhibition of Ottoman-era maps based on research by Ottoman historian Professor Dimitris Loupis.
• Four upper-floor rooms covering 18th- and 19th-century ship figureheads, the shift from sail to steam and then diesel, the sailing routes of Santorini’s 19th-century ships (told through video projected onto a real sail), and portraits of Oia shipowners and seafarers.

The smaller objects are where the personal stories come through: carved sea chests, sextants, ship models, watercolours of old and newer vessels, captains’ uniforms, tools and plans from Santorini’s boatyards, charter agreements, dowry contracts, sailors’ wills and old photographs. Seeing them inside a former captain’s house ties the collection to the village around it.

A short history of the museum

Captain Antonis Dakoronias, a merchant navy officer from Oia, began collecting objects from old ships and opened the museum in 1951 in the captain’s house of his grandfather, Minas Nomikos. The 1956 earthquake destroyed that building and forced the museum to close. In 1978, with help from the Greek National Tourism Organisation, the collection moved into temporary space in the restored Vamvakousis family mansion, and in September 1981 the museum was formally set up as a non-profit foundation.

In 1988, Dina Manolessou-Birbili from Oia donated her partly damaged family home to house the collection. Shipowner brothers Nikolaos and Dimitris Nomikos paid for its restoration, and the museum reopened there in 1992. After 30 years in that building, it closed for a full renovation sponsored by M/MARITIME and reopened on 21 October 2023 under its president, Nicoletta Nomikou.

Opening hours, tickets and location

Hours for this museum differ between sources. The schedule the museum announced when it reopened in 2023 is daily from 10:00 to 18:00, but many listings still show the older seasonal split schedule with a Tuesday closure. If your visit falls on a Tuesday, in the afternoon gap between 14:00 and 17:00, or between November and March, call +30 22860 71156 before you make the trip.

How to plan your visit

The museum works well on a windy afternoon, as a midday break from crowded lanes, or on an Oia visit that needs more depth than shopping and sunset photos. Regular buses run from Fira to Oia, and the museum is about five minutes on foot from the Oia bus station. Oia’s lanes are narrow, stepped and cobbled, so wear shoes with some grip.

It pairs well with a slow walk through Oia’s lanes. For earlier history elsewhere on the island, the Museum of Prehistoric Thera in Fira covers the Bronze Age settlement at Akrotiri, a very different chapter of Santorini’s story. For broader sightseeing ideas, see our guide to the best things to do in Santorini.

Local tip: Visit before the sunset crowds build if you want a calmer Oia experience, then stay in the village for dinner or evening views after the museum.

Frequently asked questions