Amfissa/Amphissa

I had wanted to know (and still want to know) about the time in 1948 when Irene Mawer and Ruby Ginner were awarded the Freedom of the town of Amfissa, in Greece.  This was as a thank you for raising a large amount of money to help with repairs after WW2.  I had hoped that there might be some paperwork somewhere that referenced the event, but no-one was willing to help me find out.  Undeterred, I visited the town anyway.

I had really wanted to make contact with people in Amfissa, and for a year before coming to Greece I tried all the avenues that I could think of.  I did get an acknowledgement from someone that my request for information had been received, but nothing further and no replies to my other emails and Fb messages.

When Irene was awarded the Freedom of Amphissa, the money that she raised was used to fix the water supply pipes in the Square of Anagyros Simpopoulos.  I assumed that it would be easy to find the square, but I was wrong.  Andy spent ages searching various maps, without success.  The nearest options he could find were the original place where we had spent the night, or this new place where we had parked, which was called something similar to the name we were looking for.  I have no idea if it was the right place, but I took some photos anyway.  Right around the corner from there was the Archeological Museum of Amfissa, so I popped in.

Amfissa’s archeological museum turned out to be a real gem.  It was lovely and as I was the only visitor there I had the place to myself.  I wasn’t in any rush, and I think I photographed and examined just about every item in there.  I was particularly impressed with the section on theatre.  The photo for this blog post is a close up of one of the masks – a modern version.

Before I left, I noticed a banner advertising an exhibition to do with prominent women of the area, so I intend to contact them in the future, to see if they can help me with the enquiry that I am making about Irene Mawer.

I was disappointed not to have achieved my Irene Mawer goal in Amfissa, but fingers crossed for better luck when I come back in two years time.