The 2nd Epal of Trikala has already visited the Tsitsanis Museum and the students followed a specific procedure which comprised three stages. The preparation stage, before the museum visit, the on the spot visit to the museum and the final stage after the museum visit. Initially the students were informed about the multidimensional Tsitsanis Museum in the classroom before the visit. Teachers made use of various ways of preparation. They distributed photocopied worksheets and asked the students to work on them with the help of information from Internet pages. Then, they asked the students to identify the location and the broader area of the museum on a map. The worksheet included a number of questions targeting to identification of the monument from an architectural point of view in the first place and then from its functional point of view throughout the centuries. They also projected images of the building’s view in different historical periods. It is worth mentioning here that the museum itself is an Ottoman Bath, a monument coming from the Ottoman period, converted into a Prison later on and now having been renovated, is a place devoted to Vassilis Tsitsanis, a famous Greek composer born in Trikala.
During the visit to the museum, the students were asked to work on proper educational material provided by the museum concerning the principal function of the building, that was the Ottoman Bath. Walking around the cold, the warm and the hot compartments information was discovered and the Ottoman world and life was revealed. In parallel, a group of students attending the Applied Arts sector in our school got inspired by decorative features of the Bath and produced interesting designs.
In the meantime, students walked through compartments which were constructed for prison and felt the atmosphere remarking the narrow windows and the restricted space. Afterwards, they entered the world of music produced by Vassilis Tsitsanis, a famous composer of the 20th century. The Hall is devoted to him as he was born and grew up in Trikala. With the help of a questionnaire designed by the participating teaching team, the students got in touch with the life and the work of the composer while the technical means of the museum gave them the chance to listen to authentic music of this kind.
The museum visit ended up with an Action Bound Application created by the teaching team for the students aiming at an overall consolidation of as many pieces of information as possible concerning all sides of the specific monument.
The purpose of this museum visit was to get the students to know the history and culture of the place they live, to study the three dimensions of the building itself, to recognize the traces of the past in this contemporary environment they live in. To make comparisons between the past and the present. To understand the values of the society, to comprehend the evolution of the world and the social development and to respect our surroundings.