What I can see

This five-storey building is an example of modernized eclecticism, with Art Deco elements and is in the spirit of the French Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Today, the building’s main facade looks dilapidated, but it is not. If we compare it to the other facades, it is the only one that looks weathered. During the restoration, artificial erosion technique was chosen to emphasize the oldness. The interior decoration is refined, furniture is original, spaces are high-ceilinged, airy and full of neoclassical elements and the ceilings are unique works of art. The columns are not marble, but metal with golden leafs. Only two of the fireplaces are functional, while the rest are decorative. The first floor has been preserved exactly as it was built, with light fixtures, chandeliers, built-in wooden wardrobes, decorative glass on doors, heating system, wall safes and secret doors for staff. All this creates a genuine atmosphere of old bourgeois Athens.

What I can't see

It is one of the few buildings in the city that preserves its original form, both externally and internally. It is also the first building in Greece that had an elevator and is still operational. The architect Konstantinos Kyriakidis was experienced in the construction of urban mansions. When this particular mansion was built, it was considered a symbol of arrogance due to its height. It was characterized as “insulting” to the Temple of Zeus and the Acropolis due to proximity and it was an out-of-place volume in relation to the rest of the buildings of the time. During the German Occupation, this was where bread was distributed and it was a refuge for those persecuted by the Gestapo. The marble interior staircase and glasses are exact copies of the original ones, as those were destroyed by a bomb in the early 1990s. The building then housed the UN library. Today, it houses a private gallery with works from the collection of the Kefalonian shipowner and owner of the building, Nikolaos Lykiardopoulos.

Info

• Address: 36 Amalias Av & Tsagkari St.

Bibliography