The Pasha's building is situated on the external compound of the Ottoman Fortress of Pylos (Niokastro), where the settlement of the castle was. It is a rectangular, two-storied stone building dated to 17th and 18th century AD. The building has nowadays a renovated wooden roof. The building was named after Ibrahim Pasha, who captured the castle in 1816 and remained its control until 1828 when the French general Maison liberated it.

During the Second World War, according to historical sources, Italians and Germans used the castle as a prison. In 1953 the Greek police donated the fortress to the Archaeological Service. All the buildings were demolished, except the Pasha's building, which was the largest and well preserved.

The Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities used the Pasha?s building for a couple of years as a storage place. Until 2008, during the restoration of Niokastro, the Pasha's building was housing the carpenter's, the black smith's and the painter's laboratories. After the renovation in 2010, the Pasha's building hosted the exhibition of 'Sunken journeys, man's explorations: Important traces of the Peloponnesian Seas'. Pasha's building is the first museum of underwater archaeological finds in Greece. Also its eastern part has turned into an outdoor area, suitable for educational programs.



Editor: from the archive of the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities