Description:
The "Archontiko Argyrou" is situated in Messaria, a village on the Island of Santorini which in the 19th century was an important wine center. In 1888 George Argyros, landowner and prominent wine merchant, decided to build on top of a traditional house a large, richly decorated neoclassical mansion. The whole complex was unfortunately partly destroyed by a big earthquake in 1956 and left abandoned for almost 35 years. Restoration works started with the rehabilitation of the traditional house on the ground floor. This traditional part, built around 1860, consisted of five rooms, a kitchen, two courtyards and a garden, a wine cellar, a bakery and stables, all built in local materials such as lava stone and "porcelana", a strong mixture from volcanic earth and lime. It was carefully cleaned and reinforced and converted into a guesthouse with six apartments with updated facilities, whilst respecting the original structure. The neoclassical part on the first floor, which was more heavily damaged, had partly to be reconstructed. Collapsed walls and roofs were rebuilt and with the use of every remaining piece of stone, wood iron or ceramic, the interior, the exterior, the wall paintings, the furniture and other objects were painstakingly restored. This floor was converted to private museum.