Latest monuments in Heraklion city
Tobacco Cutting Factory
The tobacco-cutting factory is found in the area of Aghia
Triadha and more specifically at the place where in the first half
of the 17th century there was the Monastery of Panaghia
Akrotiriani.
Today the stone built wall that runs around it as well as the
building itself are listed monuments. The tobacco factory was
erected in the 19th century and it has got two floors and three
wings roofed with tiles.
Italian School of Archaeology (Albert Street)
It is one of the most stylish and interesting buildings of the
Balkan architecture in the city.
It was the house of the Turk Mirza Efendi and today it belongs to
the Italian School of Archaeology. The building is characterized by
architectural and morphological elements of Ottoman-Turkish and
Neo-Classical architecture.
The Historical Museum
It has been characterized as a listed historical monument and
work of art. It has two floors and it is an excellent example of
Neoclassical architecture. On the south side of the building there
is a courtyard that is enclosed by a wall of neoclassical
style.
It was built on the site of an earlier mansion in 1870 with plans
of L. Kantanzoglou. This then was burnt down and destroyed by the
Turks during the events of the 25th August 1898. It was rebuilt in
1903 with plans of K. Tsantiraki that were based on the earlier
ones.
The building Efkafi (Evans street)
The building «Efkafi» belongs to the family Miliara and it is
one of the first two public Turkish buildings that were built
according to the principles of neoclassical architecture in
Heraklion. It was erected around 1878 to roof the Service of
Efkafia which was a Turkish Public Service that had in its
jurisdiction all the buildings that were offered to Philanthropic
establishments.
The building is exceptionally elegant and interesting, an example
of the first applications of Neoclassicism in Heraklion, to which a
lot of elements of the wide spread Balkan architecture were
used.
Building of the family F. Chatzidaki (Zografou and Averof
street)
It is an important building of later Neoclassicism. It has two
floors with a basement and it is roofed with tiles. Its facade is
carefully formed, while the other sides are rather unadorned.
Special attention was given to the formation of the middle part of
the main facade, where both on the ground and on the first floor
there is an architrave with Doric and Ionic columns accordingly,
while its end is crowned by a pediment.
«Bon Marche» building of the family A. Polycrati, Ag. Minas 8
street
The well known «Bon Marche» is a private shop that belonged to
the sons Housein and Moharem Litsardaki.
It was erected in 1892 in Ag. Minas 8 street and it is a
significant example of a Turkish building where elements from the
Neoclassical and Balkan architecture have been successfully
fused.
Building of the family Kalioraki in Sofokli Venizelou Avenue
and Theotokopoulou street.
The building is a fine example of the late Neoclassicism and
typical of the of the city architecture of the first decades of the
20th century.
106 Plastira Street
It is a very interesting stone built building with two floors
and tiled roof of the late Neoclassicism and Eclecticism.
On the ground floor the openings are framed by ashlar masonry
(stone curved columns). The entrance to the first floor is found at
the side of the building.
Manor House of Behi-Sekeria of the family Skevos Blavaki
(Apokoronou Street)
It is a characteristic example of the Balkan architecture with
clear neoclassical influence. The size, the structure of the rooms,
the variety of the forms of individual parts and the high aesthetic
conceptualization make this building unique in Heraklion.
Building of the family Tsahaki (Thessalonikis street)
This house is one of the most stylish examples of the late
«romantique» Neoclassicism.
It was built in the first decade of the 20th Century by the
architect D.Kyriakos. Especially interesting is the architectural
solution with which the facades of the building have been
formed.
Building Mavraki, property of «Credit Bank» (7 Stylianou
Giamalaki Street)
An excellent example of the late Neoclassicism is the building
known as «Mavraki House», property of the «Credit Bank». It was
probably erected in the second decade of the 20th century in the
neighbourhood Retzep Agha no. 167 street, which a little later was
called Sfakion street. The first owner, Zaharias Ieronymakis,
bequeathed it to his son Heraklis Ieronymakis in 1921 who sold it
to Emmanouil Pantelakis. The latter, in turn, gave it as dowry for
his daughter to lawyer S.Mavraki in 1948.
The building has all the characteristics of the later
Neoclassicism. The formation of the main facades is strictly
symmetrical. The main architectural element, which is unique for
Heraklion, is the dome like wooden structure of the building.
Structures like these, called «Belvedere», were very usual in north
Europe. While they were often used in city centres of central and
north Greece (Athens, Thessaloniki, Patras) and in luxurious
suburbs as Kifissia, they were however rarely found in southern
Greece and in the islands.
The Chronaki House
It is a remarkable building of the Balkan architecture with
Neoclassical influences and a very interesting internal painted
decoration. The arrangement of the rooms is complex; they are
around open spaces or semi-open internal ones covered with pebbled
floors. The ground floor is stone built, as are parts of the first
floor, while the rest is wooden. The wood becomes the main
structural and morphological element of the whole construction.
Especially important are also the wooden elements (ceiling,
wardrobes, internal partitions) which are characteristic examples
of the architecture and the aesthetic conception of this group of
buildings.
The building has been renovated by the Technical Service of the
Town Hall (in collaboration with the local Ephorate which is
responsible for the recent monuments) and it contains objects of
art that fit its character and, at the same time, it houses a
series of elements that are essential to the understanding of the
whole cultural physiognomy of the city of Heraklion.
Some of them are:
- a group of old furniture of Arab-Turkish origin,
- maps and sketches of the 17th and the 18th century,
- a collection of old cards with photos and scenes of the life of
Heraklion in the first decades of 20th century,
- a complete copy of the judicial codes of the Turkish Archive of
Heraklion
Freedom Square
Built in a crescent shape alongside the Archaeological
Museum and close to Heraklion's municipal buildings and
the main foreign Consulates, this spacious square
- Plateia Eleftherias - is worth exploring. Apart from breathing
space, it offers the shaded park of Georgiades, a
fine place to rest the feet and watch the busiest intersection in
Heraklion. On the seaward side of the square is the entrance to
St. George's Gate, used from Venetian times as a
passage between the city and its port. The entrance is down stone
steps, leading to an atmospheric dome-roofed chamber and the lower
exit. The passage may still be accessed and is often the venue for
art exhibitions. It is all that remains now of an important
mediaeval entrance to the city.
