OVERVIEW

Family Mansion “Kakoliri”
Preserved Building of Venetian Architecture in the Historical Centre of the old town of Corfu
Details about the Building and its History This building is purely of Venetian Architecture, and it is estimated to have been built at least 450 years ago. According to the history of Corfu it is known as the Family Mansion of Kakoliri, a well known family belonging to the higher classes of society, which is situated between the holly temple of Saint Spiridon and the holly temple of Saint Theodora (Mitropolis). The time required to walk to the main square of Corfu town (The famous Liston Square) is only 2 minutes, and only a 3 minute walk to the old Courthouse (where a big parking lot is situated)
The largest part of this building, in other words all of the 2nd floor (the mansions most impressive quarters) with an attic above it, two independent apartments on the first floor as well as two mini stores on the ground floor on either side of the entrance, were bought by the Doctor, Dimitrios Dimas, (who happened to be my grandfather) from the descendants and heirs of this well known family to the society of Corfu, in 1923.
In the smaller area of the historical center of Corfu it is the only independent mansion which is “free” and airy in all its perimeter. In other words in the front were the main entrance is to be found, a picturesque square with a triangular flower bed at the end of the small cobbled street of Mpizi is situated; in the back part the is a big opening between the building itself and the holly temple of Saint Theodora (Mitropolis), while on the two other sides there are two narrow side roads (Mitropoleos street and 2nd bystreet of Panelliniou). Furthermore it is the building with the most area (sq. meters) in the Historical center in its category (independent house). It has a northwest orientation, which has a maximum natural ventilating system thanks to the prevailing winds coming from the northwest (Maistros).
The floor plan has trapezoid shape with the longest side located in the back of building where there is also a stone balcony 8 meters long on the second floor, and serves the two lounges of the family mansion,
while on the same side under the stone balcony on the first floor there is an exterior independent marble stair case which leads to an open landing (of about 9 m2), were the main entrance to the apartment of the first floor on the back side of the bilding is located.
In the past, between the mansion and the holly temple of Saint Theodora (Mitropolis), there was a garden with a well also, which can still be found in the same place but belonging to a different owner today. It is claimed that then due to the increased needs of construction and buildings the owner of that time sold the garden so that smaller houses could be built.
The whole building itself includes the following 7 independent properties:
1. The mansion – main quarters of the second floor which covers an area of 190 m2 gross including the walls separating the rooms (net about 150 m2). The entrance to the second floor is from the main entrance of the building in the little square at Mitropoleos street No 15. The attic is not included on this floor and space and has the possibility of having its own entrance.
2. The apartment of the first floor on the front side of the building which has a gross area of about 70 m2 and its entrance on the first floor which is accessible from the main entrance of the building in the little square at Mitropoloes street No 15, and looks onto the little square.
3. The apartment of the first floor on the back side of the building which has a gross area of about 60 m2 and its entrance from the independent stone stair case, whose arched gate is to be found in 2nd bystreet of Panelliniou.
4. The studio on the ground floor on the left side of the main
entrance which is fully renovated and has an area of 35 m2. Its entrance is on the inner side of the main entrance of the building.
5. The studio on the ground floor on the right side of the main entrance which is also fully renovated and used as a small office. It also has an area of 35 m2 and a first entrance on the inner side of the main entrance but also a second entrance externally from the little square with the flower bed on which it also looks onto.
6. The ground floor office with a loft on the 1st floor in Mitropoleos street which is also fully renovated. It has an area of 70 m2 and its independent entrance externally in Mitopoleos street.
7. A store room of about 60 m2 which has its external independent entrance in the second bystreet of Panelliniou.
The building is build totally of stone in the Venetian style and Architecture, stones from the north village Sinies and granite, the bricks of course which have been used for the supporting arches of the static weights are of the old and solid ones commonly used in Corfu in the past. The mixture used to keep the bricks together contains porcelain detritus in a large percentage, details which enable this building to have no expire date (metal is nowhere to be found as a substance), as the exact same building materials were used by the Venetians to construct both fortresses in Corfu (the Old and the New). Furthermore, the lower parts of the windows have been constructed with stone and not with bricks as was common then to make things easier.
It is possible to install a lift, due to its architecture and the existing walls, and the fact that the width of the stair case is 2 meters, a very rear characteristic for a building of its age where the width normally comes up to 1meter.
The height of the ceiling of the apartment of the second floor (main
quarters of the mansion) reaches the length of 4,20m, in the sitting room of course and the lounges the ceilings are decorated with drawings which are estimated to be the work of the well known artist Bizani. The apartments of the first floor though, have ceilings which reach a height of about 4m. The apartment of the second floor also has imposingly royal architectural elements, such as tall arches with heavy wedge shaped stones and a tufting column and crossover arches in the stair case as well as the inner side of the entrance.
The view from the attic from the front side of the building includes the roofs of the neighboring buildings and the belfry of the holly temple of Saint Spiridon, while from the back part you can see the belfry of the temple of Saint Theodora (Mitropoli) and a panoramic view of all the old town and the new fortress, where a balcony can be built with small columns of classic architecture on the perimeter, giving it a prime panoramic view.

CHARACTERISTICS: