Exactly where Symi's heart beats

The building dominates the center of the port of Symi, right in front of the sea and was built at the end of the 19th century.. .

It belonged to wealthy sponge merchants. The shop was downstairs, the warehouse on the first floor and the family home on the second floor.

On the first floor, inside the old warehouse, closed and unused for more than sixty years, were found, among other things, old volumes with addresses and information about Paris and other European cities where sponges were exported, account books of the time, dictionaries, wooden boxes from shopping for diving gear written in half-erased letters, “diving gear… London”, an old bookbinding tool, shells, sponges and bits of broken pottery.

The old warehouse space was cleaned and painted, the wooden floor was sanded, electrical and plumbing were completed and a WC and a full modern kitchen were built. The caissons became display tables for the sponges, shells and books, the built-in wall cabinet an exhibition space for old ceramics, an old wardrobe, two carved wooden chests of drawers, a huge mirror, two armchairs and a wall clock were added, while an old door turned into a nightstand. On the walls were photos of the family's ancestors, as well as four works by the contemporary Greek painter Grigoris Kousoulos (1929-2017).

All of the above together with its large windows, similar to living paintings by Symi herself, give the space the beauty, nobility and color it deserves.