Kea Enamel Factory

The Old Enamel Factory on Kea, in the Cyclades: The factory of Enamel and Metallurgy operated from 1927 to 1957. It can be found at the entrance of Korissia village. This factory played a major role in economic and social terms since it once used to employ 250 workers and 50 technicians. Taken into account that Kea had a small agricultural economy by those times, the importance of this factory becomes more evident. Besides, it used to be the only factory of enameled household utensils in Greece.

Its shutdown was followed by an immigration wave to Athens and abroad. The art of enameling had already given a specialization to the people of Kea, who opened enameling businesses in their new cities. Therefore, we can affirm that the Enamel and Metallurgy factory gave as a result of the posterior creation of many small enterprises in Athens, which were run by people from Kea.

Although the factory is currently abandoned, its building is occasionally used to host exhibitions and performances, especially in summer. Besides, there is a Club of Friends of the Enamel Factory of Kea, created by a group of its former workers. The objective of this club is to preserve the archives and many of the machinery of this factory, as well as to create an industrial museum inside the old building.

These objects and documents are currently preserved in a building in Korissia, which is not far from the factory and is open to the public. The factory itself is closed, so it can be visited only in case it hosts an event or an exhibition.