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The House of an architecture lover
Point 8/12
1920s–1930s
Year of construction
Benjamin Ginsburg
Architect
Opposite the house of Kikis Lefkaritis, a mansion by an unknown author is bristling with grotesque details:the upper part of the facade is decorated with two curious variations on the theme of a huge arch keystone, which are cut through with round portholes. The left “clavel” is inverted as well — such an unthought-of puzzle for architecture lovers on dusty General Digenis Street!
At the time of construction,however, it was not a semi-urban road of the present days, it was situated afew steps away from the residence of the British authorities of the city.
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I assume there was a continuous strip of glazing along the facade on the right-hand side, which was in the fashion on the island at the time.
The house was flanked by a garden, which one could admire from the rear terrace still existing nowadays or climbing up to the roof by a spiral staircase — for centuries, the tallest points in the city were trees and bell towers.
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According to the architect YiorgosDemetriou, this “aesthete’s house” was built for an Armenian family. In the first decades of the 20th century, after the deportations and genocide carried out by the Ottoman Empire and the Young Turks, more than 10,000 people from Cilicia, Smyrna, and Constantinople settle down for good on Cyprus, joining Armenian population historically formed on the island.
The Armenian houses in Larnaca are a rich and curious topic of their own. One day we’ll put together an itinerary about them too!
Alas, this house has been standing here for the last few months or even days: judging by the banner, there will soon be a construction site here.
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Behind the white building on the same street, you can see another Art Deco building with rounded tower at the corner and a vertical window of the staircase.
The architecture of the both mansions looks good even today, try mentally painting and tidying them up and they would be eligible.
Please post a photo of this building on your social networks, if it is still on place, with the tag — #VanishingHomes, #SaveCyprusArchitecture.
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