The Silk Museum in Soufli presents all the phases and the stages of the pre-industrial process of rearing silkworms (sericulture) and of silk processing (silk manufacturing) within the socio-economic context that made the region a major silk-producing centre in Greece (late 19th – mid-20th century).
The Silk Museum's ground floor, where the old exhibition used to be housed, is now dedicated to the section on the history of silk. At the same time, the projected documentaries produced by PIOP help the visitor to put sericulture and silk manufacturing into a specific space- and time- frame.
On the first floor the exhibition's scenario on sericulture is developed. The visitor's itinerary follows the cycle of sericulture. It begins with the production and hatching of the silkworm seed (eggs), the mulberry and the silkworm. It continues with the silkworm's different stages of development (instars) and the weaving of the valuable cocoon (mounting of the branches and harvesting). This is followed by the cocoons' cleaning and sorting. The silkworm's life cycle ends with the process called stifling. The next section is dedicated to silk manufacturing (reeling, i.e. unwinding the cocoon's silk filament, dyeing and weaving of silk yarn, with particular mention to the Givre silk mills). The authentic exhibits are accompanied by audiovisual material. Lastly, the section «traditional costumes in Soufli» presents unique accessories and items of traditional attire in this region.