Historical Archives
The Historical Archives of the Municipality of Piraeus were founded in 1957, after the Municipality "was jointly
called upon" with the intellectual persons of the city on the occasion of the donation of the personal records of John
Α1. Meletopoulos to the Municipality . It is one of the scant archives, which are in operation in Greece, and
provides rich and interesting information to the researcher. It is really the "ark" of the town's historical memory. Its
main cell is the Municipal Archives; in other words, the entire production of documents of the municipal services
since 1835, when Piraeus became a Municipality, until 1920. It concerns archives of a total of approximately
150,000 documents, which is accompanied with 300 register books, among which is included the entire range of the
minutes of the Municipal Council from 1835 until today. This rich collection of evidence is framed by the entirety
of the press of Piraeus ( 1950- 1966) but also by periodicals, which, because they had a small readership and were
short-lived, are eventually rare. The Historical Archives are also provided with a significant volume of printed
matter, which can clearly make up a significant cell of the bibliography of Piraeus. The engraved works, though,
which are kept in the Archives, mark out the evolution of the city of Piraeus from the wilderness of the l8th century
to the big and busy commercial & industrial hub of the end of the nineteenth century.