The idea of creating a Folklore Museum was born together with the founding of the Iasmos Culture Club in 1983. From the first steps of its activity, the Club recognized the need to preserve and showcase local memory, cultural heritage, and the traditions of the town.

The effort began with the collection of everyday objects, tools, family heirlooms, traditional costumes, and other significant items donated by the residents of the area. At the same time, periodic and travelling exhibitions were organized, showcasing the wealth of local folk tradition.

A major milestone in this journey was the purchase of the house of papa-Giannis by the Club, funded by the Ministry of Culture in 1993. This building became the first organized housing for the collection. For several years it hosted the Club's offices, traditional costumes, paintings, photographic and film material, as well as a large number of objects gathered through donations from residents. Over time, the deterioration of the building made it difficult to safely preserve and protect the collections.

Later, the building of the former Community of Iasmos was renovated and granted to the Club, providing new spaces to house its offices and part of its collections.

The creation of today's Museum of Agricultural and Cultural Heritage marked the next major step. During the term of Mayor Christos Amoiridis, through the European Interreg programme, the current museum building was erected, designed to meet the needs of preserving, exhibiting, and showcasing the collections. The Museum's shell was constructed following the designs of the traditional houses of Iasmos, with certain interventions to suit its purpose. At the same time, the Municipality of Iasmos proceeded with the purchase of the neighbouring house of Fokion Georgiouklis, which was demolished so that the space could be used for the expansion and extension of the overall project.

Authentic architectural elements of local tradition were also incorporated into the Museum's interior. Among them stands the wooden carved ceiling from the house of papa-Nikolas Oikonomos (1848-1935), as well as the traditional veranda from the courtyard of the Anagnostopoulos family residence, which was transferred and reassembled in the museum's basement, along with the balcony from the house of Hariklia Karina, placed in the corner of the building, contributing to an authentic depiction of the traditional Thracian dwelling.

The Museum's inauguration took place on July 8, 2012, marking the completion of an effort that lasted nearly three decades. Today the Museum stands as a living space of memory and culture, where the history, traditions, and everyday life of the people of the town are preserved and showcased, constituting a valuable legacy for future generations.

Special mention goes to Christos Polynas, who was one of the people who actively supported the Museum's endeavour. He actively participated in the collection and preservation of objects, in the arrangement of the exhibition spaces, and in the placement of the exhibits, contributing decisively to shaping the image the Museum presents today. His love for local history and his multifaceted contribution remain an inseparable part of its journey.

The Folklore Museum of Iasmos is the result of a collective effort that began in 1983 on the initiative of the Iasmos Culture Club and with the support of the local community. Through the cooperation of residents, volunteers, and townspeople, a space was created that preserves and showcases the history, everyday life, and traditions of the town, passing them on as a valuable legacy to future generations.

The creation and evolution of the Museum's history page into its present form is owed to the significant editorial contribution of Mrs. Eleni Karkazi-Pournara, whom we sincerely thank.

Iasmos, one of the oldest, largest, and most beautiful small towns of Thrace, is built on the foothills of the Rhodope mountains, in the prefecture of the same name, at the innermost end of Lake Vistonida. Tradition holds that its inhabitants are descendants of the people of Byzantine Anastasioupolis, who relocated there in the seventeenth century. They engaged in farming and livestock breeding, cultivating onions and tobacco and raising silkworms, cattle, and sheep and goats, and also worked as tobacco workers in the tobacco warehouses of Kavala and Xanthi.

The economic prosperity that Iasmos experienced led to the construction of mansions and large houses of an urban scale. The houses, always two-storey, were built through mutual aid ('mitzi') usually by foreign builders (Macedonians or Bulgarians), on plots created by felling trees (oaks, locally called 'meses'), which were then used for the wooden parts of the building. They were divided into a ground floor and an upper floor. On the ground floor there was the 'hayati' (covered porch/entrance hall), the cellar ('katoi') for wine, legumes, etc., the ('ontadeli' or 'kamarouda') — a room for general everyday use during the day — the raki still and the oven, while in the yard there was the outhouse (also called 'hales', 'anagkaio', 'hreia', 'akria', 'apopatos') with a wooden floor with two holes, and under the staircase the granary for cereals.

The staircase, with its usually open wooden steps, led to the 'sala' (hall) of the upper floor and closed with the 'klavani', a horizontal door. On the upper floor there was the hall open to the south and two rooms, the 'ypodohi' (reception room) and the 'kamara' or 'ontas' (bedroom).

In the hall there was: a) the 'krevati' (sleeping platform), which was raised in relation to the rest of the hall by means of a 'sahnisi' (wooden supports that hold up the upper-floor rooms, extending beyond the limits of the ground-floor masonry), used for drying cocoons and raising silkworms, with its five 'agiazlikia' (windows without glass panes that closed with wooden shutters), three facing east or west depending on the position of the 'krevati', one facing south and one north; b) the 'taratsa' (a projecting wooden balcony, enclosed with railings); c) the sink, on the side opposite the 'krevati'.

The 'ypodohi' was the eastern room, larger than the 'kamara', with or without a fireplace and a 'mesantra' (built-in wardrobe), and it was the room used for celebrations and for guests. It was lit by two windows, one facing east and one looking onto the hall. The 'kamara' or 'ontas' was located to the west, had a fireplace and a 'mesantra', and served mainly as a bedroom. It was lit by one window facing the hall. The fireplace, with its wooden 'bouhari' (hood), ended in a cylindrical chimney ('batzias') built with upright roof tiles, which later became rectangular, built with bricks.

On the south side of the house was the yard, which was cobbled ('kalderimi') and enclosed by a two-metre-high yard wall, topped with large roof tiles ('farses') for protection against rain erosion. One entered the yard through the front gate, which had two leaves, a cover over the inside and outside, and was secured with the 'sidero' or 'kol demir' (iron bolt) and the latch.

The stable, or 'dam', or barn, was always located outside the house. The streets of Iasmos were dirt roads, while the streambeds were cobbled.

Water supply came from a well (opposite Kolisis' house) and nine stone public fountains: the 'paliovrysi' (old fountain), those of papa-Andreas, of Periklis on the square, the 'pazarisia' which no longer exists today, of Ai Nikolas, of papa-Nikolas, of Mavinis, of Belios, and of Tsilegkoud. There were four inns, four bakeries, five coffee houses, and one pharmacy.

Two churches operated, Ai Nikolas and Ai Giannis, and in 1870 the chapels of Zoodochos Pigi (Panagia), Ai Vlasis, and Profitis Ilias were built. Until 1919 the churches and their courtyards were used as burial grounds, and afterwards the courtyard of Agios Georgios, which is still used today. There were also two schools in operation, a boys' school, on the site of today's Ai Nikolas park, and a girls' school, where the Culture Club is housed today. After 1925 they were housed in the Primary School built by the residents of Iasmos (where municipal services are housed today).

The town had three dancing grounds ('horostasia'), one at the Ai Nikolas fountain, one at the Tsilegkoud fountain, and one at Athanatos (north of Agia Paraskevi). On the southern side of the village, at the level of the public road, were the threshing floors (private and public).

After the Asia Minor catastrophe and the civil war, the settlement of new residents (such as refugees, the Sarakatsani, and the Pomaks) and the new demands of life altered the urban appearance and architecture of Iasmos, with the expansion of the settlement, the construction of new houses, and interventions and modifications to the old ones.

Today, unfortunately, only a few houses survive that can give us information about the folk architecture of previous centuries in Iasmos and its urban planning. For this reason, much of our information is drawn from old photographs and from the accounts of local elders.