The Municipal Gallery of Mytilini

The building now housing the Municipal Gallery of Mytilini was built in 1880 and is one of the last Ottoman konaks still standing. This belonged to the last descendant of the Kulaksiz Family, Halim Bey. Up to 1923 this building served as the family’s residence. After the 1922 population exchange the building was converted into a refugee shelter for displaced Greeks fleeing from Asia Minor. Then, between the mid-1970s and the mid-1990s the building was abandoned and started to fall apart. Since 1994 the building has hosted the Municipal Gallery of Mytilini with impressive collections of Greek and international paintings. The building has three floors, a characteristic sample of local architecture. The building belongs to the Municipal Corporation of Cultural and Tourist Development and it presents the private collection of Georgios Simos-Petris, one of the most famous art critics of Greece who donated 110 paintings in August 1998 and the collection was further augmented with a subsequent donation in September 2001 by Simos’ sister, Elli Simou. The Petris Collection on exhibit in the Municipal Gallery comprises 138 paintings, rare engravings, books and woodcuts. Additionally, the Municipal Gallery presents the work of many significant painters such as Yiannis Tsarouhis, Giorgos Gounaropoulos, Picasso, Matisse and many other Lesvian painters such as Stratis Axiotis, Giorgos Perros, Dimitris Karapiperis, Kaiti Mersinezi and others. A significant part of the Gallery activities is the painting conservation workshop on the ground floor.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Address: Adramytiou 46, 81100, Mytilini Lesvos

Tel: (+30) 22510 48002

E-mail: pinakothiki2022@outlook.com