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The Neraida Floating Museum comprises a distinct museum case of converting a ship into a floating museum offering a unique experience to visitors and is the only floating museum in Greece that is seaworthy. The Museum’s archive and exhibits reveal the history of the ship as well as the business career of her owner, John Latsis.
The ship was built in 1939 in the then Italian city of Fiume and was named “Laurana”. Immediately after her construction, she was used as a passenger ferry to serve ferry routes along the Adriatic ports. With the outbreak of World War II, the Laurana was commissioned as a wartime hospital ship. Following the end of the war and the ship’s takeover by ships of the British fleet, Laurana returned to service as a ferry connecting Malta and Syracuse, Italy.
John Latsis, a young ship-owner at the time, purchased the ship from a Maltese ferry company in late 1949 and routed her on the Argosaronic Gulf line. She was renamed “Neraida” following an on-board vote during one of her first voyages, in the presence of politicians, journalists and other prominent passengers.
The ship’s most frequent route was Piraeus-Aegina-Methana-Poros-Hydra-Hermioni-Spetses. Sometimes she visited Leonidio and Monemvasia, while she was also used for day or night cruises in Nafplio and Epidavros. In addition to running regular routes, the deck of the Neraida hosted social events and balls. During the 1950s and 1960s – a time period with major Greek tourism growth –, Neraida served the ferry routes on the Argosaronic Gulf line and emerged as a highly popular ship for the residents and visitors of those destinations. Furthermore, during her roughly 25-year career in the Argosaronic Gulf, Neraida had the opportunity to star in numerous Greek films, as well as in the Hollywood production “Boy on a Dolphin”.
Neraida finally retired in 1974 but due to the special emotional connection her owner, John Latsis, had with her, he never sent his lucky ship for scrap. Following John Latsis’s death in 2003, his family launched an ambitious project to assemble an archive of his life and work by rebuilding and converting the ship into a floating museum. The narration unfolds through numerous photographs, business, personal and public documents, objects, scale models, audiovisual material and old vessel parts and is presented against the backdrop of important political, economic and social events of the 20th century. The two central narratives are the following:
1. The history of the ship since her construction and launch in 1939 until the completion of her reconstruction in 2010.
2. The business career of her owner, John Latsis, and his activities in the shipping, carrying and refining petroleum products, construction and banking industries, which span most of the 20th century.
The Neraida Floating Museum is open to the public with free admission. The Museum offers group guided tours to visitors, educational programmes for primary school students and individual young visitors, as well as specially-themed children’s workshops, designed and implemented by qualified museum educators. The Neraida Floating Museum is berthed at Flisvos Marina. However, the ship has also visited other destinations, such as the ports of the Argosaronic Gulf, Nafplio, Leonidio, Piraeus and Katakolo, the birth place of John Latsis.
The activities of the Neraida Floating Museum are funded by the John S Latsis Public Benefit Foundation. For more information and to plan your visit, please visit the website: www.neraida.org/en/.
