The site in Sitia
The VITZENSOS KORNAROS Cultural Center building is a two-story, stone, L-shaped structure, which happens to be located—what an emblematic coincidence—at the intersection of Vitzensos Kornaros, Kazantzakis, and Fountalidis in Sitia. It is a 19th-century building that has been designated a historic landmark.
Today, the VITZENSOS KORNAROS Cultural Center uses the ground floor as an exhibition and museum space, while the upper floor hosts meetings, lectures, and events, as well as its library and administrative offices.
According to testimonies from the owners, the building was constructed in the 1870s, a period during which the new city of Sitia was urbanized by Hussein Avni Pasha (1819 – 1876). A characteristic feature of this urbanization, still recognizable in the old town today, is the long, rectangular plots, typically created with a usable width of approximately 4 meters. This dimension corresponded to the length of available wooden beams used to bridge the structures, which were brought in bulk at this length by boats to the Port of Sitia.
The construction of the building was undertaken by master builders from Symi, who also built a neighboring building with similar architecture during the same period. The building has three entrances, one on each street, with the main entrance framed by an arch of carved stones. Its roof is gabled with tiles, and the floors communicate internally via a staircase.
Today, some of the building’s historical uses are known. It served as the pharmacy and home of resistance martyr Iosif Sakkadakis (1905 – May 8, 1944). After liberation from German occupation, it reopened, with the ground floor operating as a pharmacy by Andreas Anipsitakis and the upper floor as a dental office by his wife, Sofia. Subsequently, the ground floor housed Antonis Kritharakis’ grocery store and the Kamara café, which was founded by Manolis and Katerina Verygaki in 1982 and later passed into the hands of Vasilis Darivakis (1985-2002). The upper floor was used as a residence by the owner Pantelidis family and later housed Tonia Karandeinou’s Balcony restaurant.