Rene Puaux Exhibition, Tsiklitiras Residence

The exhibition of the French philhellene Rene Puaux is housed in the residence of the Greek Olympic Champion Kostis Tsiklitiras and opened its doors in 2012. Rene Puaux’s collected documents, drawings and many other objects from the 1821 Greek Revolution are on display. Puaux became an honorary citizen of Pylos after he decided to donate his collection to the area and create a museum.

Olympic Champion Kostis Tsiklitiras

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Kostis Tsiklitiras was born in 1888 in Pylos. He studied at the Industrial and Commercial Academy of Othon Rousopoulos in Athens. His father, Hercules Tsiklitiras, was a mayor of Pylos and an ambassador to France. Kostis Tsiklitiras’ first appearance in athletics took place in 1906, at the age of 28, in the standing long jump event. At the age of just 20 he won two silver medals, in the standing long jump and the standing high jump events at the 1908 Olympic Games in London.

At that time his appearance on the world athletics’ stage was considered amazing because of his young age. He proved to thousands of Olympic fans in London that the modern Greeks were worthy descendants of the Olympic ideals. In the Stockholm Olympics of June 1912 he took the gold position in the standing long jump and bronze in the standing high jump. Just two months after his amazing wins in Stockholm, Pylos’s athletic hero again showed his patriotism by taking part in the Balkan Wars. He tragically died of meningitis during the war on February 10th, 1913, at the age of 25.