The first reflections on establishing the Museum of Solomos were in place since 1903, the year when the national poet donated his manuscripts. However, the Museum of Solomos and Other Eminent People of Zakynthos was constructed after the earthquakes of 1953 at the historical Saint Mark’s square at a land property donated by the Metropolitan Church of Zakynthos, and was funded by the state, various institutions and private persons. The museum operates since 24 August 1996. It is a literary and social association founded in 1959 and managed by a six-member board. In 1987, the Association of Friends of the Museum was established in Athens which supports the museum with publications and events. The ground floor hosts Greece’s first and only mausoleum. Since 17 January 1968, the mausoleum hosts the bones of the two national poets, Dionysios Solomos and Andreas Kalvos as well as the bones of Kalvos’ wife. The first floor of the building comprises the halls of Dionysios Solomos, Dionysios Romas, Nikolaos and Thaleia Kolyva, as well as the Wing of Prominent Zakynthians that includes the hall of Panayiotis and Effie Michelis foundation.   The Wing of Prominent Zakynthians has been extended till the new part on the ground floor. Stavros Niarchos Hall operates on the second floor along with the library and the document section of the museum. The collection of the museum includes portable icons of the Cretan and the Cretan-Heptanese School of Painting of the 17th-18th century, portraits of prominent Zakynthians of the 17th-20th century, bronze busts of Zakynthian hierarchs and prominent intellectuals, furniture of the era found in Zakynthian mansions, musical instruments, plastic art and ceramics, woodworks and wood carved sculptures, metallurgical artworks, coin molds, embroidery, knitwear, jewelry, engravings, inks, photographs and crests. The museum hosts a rich archive material including the manuscripts of Dionysios Solomos, Nikolaos Mantzaros, Nikolaos Lountzis, Antonis Matesis, Ioannis Tsakasianou, Dionysios Romas, Pavlos Kareris and Gregorios Xenopoulos.