The mansion of Krystallia Pavlides

Though it was built towards the end of the 19^th century, this house is still one of the most impressive building in Limassol’s historical city center. Large and majestic, despite its wear and tear, the mansion of Krystallia Pavlides, as it is known, is a sample of the aesthetics which characterized the wealthiest members of Limassol’s highest society ranks at the time.

The owner of the mansion was the trader Michalis Gavrielides (Chatzigavriles), one of the richest men in Cyprus. He was reported to have a fortune of 175,000 pounds, with an annual income of 11,000 pounds, though rumours had it that the real amount was in excess of 300,000 pounds.

In 1922, the classic mansion was given to the only child of Chatzigavriles, Krystallia, as a gift for her marriage to the businessman Pavlos Pavlides, who was also the owner of an equally impressive mansion, a few meters.

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The house, which was original surrounded by a garden, was designed by K. Trahanas. The outer fence and part of the garden were destroyed around the 1960s, due to the enlargement of Ifigeneias Street, which resulted to bringing the house’s entrance right on the pavement.

The mansion with its beautiful fence still intact.

Apart from the typical elements of Renaissance architecture, the house also features an unusual staircase hanging above the garden, which leads from the main building to the roof terrace of the auxiliary buildings on the western side of the house.

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Some of the areas of this considerably large house had been rented out since the mid-1930s to serve as offices for companies, until it was eventually rented as a whole to the Limassol Municipality, which used it to house many of its services up until 2005. Today, its courtyard has become one of the popular spring and summer hungouts in the city.

Information: Tasos Andreou, Limassol Historical Archives
Photos: Limassol Historical Archives