×
GreekEnglish

×
  • Politics
  • Diaspora
  • World
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Cooking
Tuesday
29
Jul 2025
weather symbol
Athens 27°C
  • Home
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • World
  • Diaspora
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Mediterranean Cooking
  • Weather
Contact follow Protothema:
Powered by Cloudevo
> Culture

Maria Callas: This will be the new image of her house in Patision – It will host the Academy of Lyrical Art

The long adventures of the project that will be completed in two years

Newsroom April 25 07:31

Maria Callas’ house in Athens, where the leading Greek opera diva lived for seven years, is once again gaining a new lease of life and in two years will be ready to serve as the Academy of Lyrical Art that will bear her name.

The reconstruction plans for the much-maligned Papaleonardou building, at 61 Patission Street, were presented yesterday, in the presence of Athens Mayor Harris Doukas, by the President of the Academy of Lyrical Art Maria Callas, Vasso Papantoniou, thanks to whose vision and many years of efforts this extremely difficult, as it turned out, project will be realised.

The president of the Academy of Lyrical Art Maria Callas, Vaso Papantoniou with the Mayor of Athens Harris Doukas

The President of the Academy of Lyrical Art Maria Callas Vasso Papantoniou with the Mayor of Athens Harris Doukas
She spoke of a “personal marathon” that began in 2007, at the time when the Naval Warfare Fund (NAT) issued a call for interest for the development of the building.

This was immediately followed by the creation of the first plans by the important architect Alexandros Tombazis, but work could not begin as the building was occupied in 2009. “These gentlemen stayed for six years. They destroyed the building,” Papantoniou said.

However, she did not give up and with the valuable assistance of representatives of the government and the municipal authority, she managed to put the ambitious plan into action. “In 2020, at the Ministry of Development, there was a meeting with the Minister Mr. Adonis Georgiadis, in the presence of the former Mayor Mr. Kostas Bakoyannis. This meeting took place after the recommendation of Mr. Bakoyannis.

We ought to say that these people were very helpful in getting the Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund
(E.S.P.A.). We, as a non-profit society, had no right to get the E.S.P.A. We cooperated with the “Athens Redevelopment”, which is the Municipality of Athens, and so we managed to join it,” she explained, referring to the financing of the project with a budget of 5,492,255.76 euros, with GDM Assets S.A. as the contractor and NPL Architects responsible for the architectural design.

As can be seen from the reconstruction studies presented, the aim is for the architectural interventions to be limited so as not to alter the character of the building, the work of the architect Konstantinos Kitsikis, which was built in 1925 and was considered pioneering for its time.

Maria Callas lived there from 1937, when she came to Athens with her mother and sister after the separation of her parents, until 1945, when she left for New York.

>Related articles

What the Herodion will look like after the “facelift”: The architectural masterpiece that has seen everything – From bullfights & Delphic Festivals to Maria Callas & Rudolf Nureyev

The mural with the dolphins at the Palace of Knossos collapsed due to strong winds – See photos

Hagia Sophia: Photos and videos of the biggest renovation in its history – The dome will be restored

Ownership of the building passed in 1950 to the Naval War Relief Fund, which intended to demolish it.

Fortunately, the Central Council of Modern Monuments intervened and in 1989 it was declared a listed building.

However, the 1999 earthquake and the long occupation deeply damaged the building, which since 2018 has been under the ownership of the Maria Callas Academy of Lyrical Art, which has undertaken its rescue and reopening.

Ask me anything

Explore related questions

#architect Alexandros Tombazis#Maria Callas#Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis#Naval War Relief Fund#Opera#President of the Academy of Lyrical Art Maria Callas#restoration
> More Culture

Follow en.protothema.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news

See all the latest News from Greece and the World, the moment they happen, at en.protothema.gr

> Latest Stories

Weather: Heatwave subsides, temperature drop and storms expected – Affected areas

July 29, 2025

Housing: Study overturns debate on shortage – “Airbnbs aren’t to blame, the 2.2 million unoccupied homes are”

July 29, 2025

Parliament braces for a fiery two-day debate on OPEKEPE – Under the microscope: Blue and green players in the subsidy scandal

July 29, 2025

The 802 prime real estate assets of the Armed Forces: Revenues from utilization to fund housing for transfers

July 29, 2025

Trump denies his involvement in the Epstein case: ‘If they had something on me, they would have come out with it already’

July 28, 2025

Oedipus’ ‘standing ovation,’ five minutes of applause at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus

July 28, 2025

Jacob Elordi: First look revealed as Frankenstein’s monster

July 28, 2025

“Walk fast to catch the last trolley” – The story of trolleybuses in Greece, from 1948 to today,

July 28, 2025
All News

> Greece

“Walk fast to catch the last trolley” – The story of trolleybuses in Greece, from 1948 to today,

“Walk faster to catch the last trolley,” one might say, as Athens’ iconic trolleybuses are phased out—ironic, given they once replaced trams, and now their own wires are being removed for wire-free electric buses

July 28, 2025

Two worlds for Israeli tourists in Rhodes: Arrests and interrogations vs. warm welcomes with sweets

July 28, 2025

“No one is looking for her,” mystery surrounds the identity of the little girl found dead in Paleo Faliro

July 28, 2025

Very high fire risk forecast for a number of regions on Tuesday

July 28, 2025

Anidrosis – What caused the 15-year-old’s heatstroke in Metsovo

July 28, 2025
Homepage
PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION POLICY COOKIES POLICY TERM OF USE
Powered by Cloudevo
Copyright © 2025 Πρώτο Θέμα