Nafplion Komboloi Museum

Location: Town

The Komboloi Museum in Nafplion: The unique Komboloi (worry beads) Museum is housed in the 18th century two-storey mansion in the Old Town of Nafplion. The exhibits of the museum are found on the first floor of the building, while the workshop and the retail shop are on the ground floor. The worry beads are handmade.

The Komboloi Museum in Nafplion is a traditional workshop for the art of making worry beads. One side of the building is decorated with different types of worry beads while the ceiling is covered in strands of cabernet red, saffron yellow beads, and amber orange. The smooth and shiny beads arouse the curiosity of the visitors.

Inside the museum, there is an exhibition of rosaries and prayer beads that Aris Evangelinos, the owner of the Komboloi Museum, collected himself during the last 20 years. There you will see worry beads used by Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, and Christians in different parts of the world. All of them are displayed in four rooms upstairs. The replicas of the old worry beads are made of red and black coral, cedar and sandalwood, glass, elephant horn, silver, pearl, and crystal. Some of them have as few as 19 beads while others have more than 100.

All kinds of beads made in the workshop are available in the retail stores as well. Also, here you can get the unique handmade worry beads. In the gift shop, visitors can also purchase several items such as key rings and worry beads of the period 1850-1950.