MANSIONS

The Mansions of Hydra were built in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a time of economic prosperity and prosperity for the island (thanks to trade and shipping) and bear elements of Genoese architecture, while at the same time they are closely linked to the glorious history of Hydra.

The rich ship owners, having traveled a lot, wanted to “import” to Hydra the characteristics of a European Architecture, so that they too could join the way of life of the Western megalopolis society.

So then, magnificent buildings were built, most of which were concentrated in prominent positions. These Mansions rise imposingly to this day and impress with their volume and magnificence.

Externally they were simple and unnecessary, but internally they were compared to Genoese Renaissance mansions, as they had rare comforts, famous and luxurious furniture, carpets, household utensils and decorative objects, souvenirs brought from ports of the West and East, which gave grandeur to the imposing Mansions with the excellent construction and quality.

The Mansions of Hydra retain many of the elements of simple houses, but due to their volume they resemble fortresses in their external appearance. They are stone with tiled roofs and usually due to the sloping ground, three or four stories high and made with gray stone from Hydra or from the islet of Dokos.

Tradition informs us that the mainly Genoese architects who were originally brought to Hydra by the “Tombazi” family, are the initiators of the multi-storey stone houses that are reminiscent of the symmetrical layout of the floor plans, the central halls, the beautiful marble staircases, the inner courtyards and the arched loggias, the Renaissance palaces of Northern Italy. These mansions were built in a short period of time in the early 19th century, they were very similar to each other and were usually built on steep hillsides, usually having two good floors and two additional floors with kitchens, cellars, storerooms, cisterns and staff rooms.

The official entrance was on the highest floor, but there were always other accesses on the lower levels, thus forming an interesting grid of courtyards and staircases, together with carved marble “portosas” and imposing wooden shutters. Rhythmic rows of windows organize the views of the two good floors and the large tiled hipped roofs set the example for all other new buildings. This ultimately gave the island its unified charming colorful image.

Most of these houses had an external staircase leading to the upper floor. Their rooms are large, high-ceilinged, with arches, with embossed interior decoration, frescoes, garlands, geometric compositions on the marble floors, doors and painted wooden ceilings. Their doors and windows are usually grey, tile, white or blue and there are also white borders on the windows.

There were separate rooms for men and women, a large hall, a small room where the iconostasis was located, a special place for smoking the hookah while the auxiliary rooms were usually outside the main house.

On the island there are approximately 30 mansions of the 18th century and 300 captains’ houses, of which the Mansions of Pavlos and Lazaros Kountouriotis, Tombazi, Tsamadou, Kriezi, Bulgari, Mpounduri stand out… some of them have been turned into museums, others were bought by private individuals and a few are preserved by descendants of the old families.

On the Eastern side of the port you can see the Mansion of Lazaros Tsamados, the current School of Merchant Marines, which keeps the maritime tradition of Hydra alive, and the Mansion of Kriezis, where the Nursing Home is currently housed.

Above the waterfront dominates the historic house of Lazaros Kountouriotis, which today functions as an annex of the National Historical Museum. Built in a P shape, painted with natural ocher and furnished with the “good being” in the northeast, it shows us the room where Lazaros Kountouriotis spent most of his time and other interesting rooms, such as the iconostasis next to the entrance and the one for his smoking hookah.

On the West side of the city you can see the historic Mansion of Frangiskos Voulgaris, later Oikonomou-Myriklis, now Adamantiou Polemis, one of the important Mansions of the 1800s, which today houses Villa Hydrea. It has oriental elements, such as the wood-carved ceilings in the Ottoman Rococo style. The marble fountain in the ballroom with the loft for the musicians and the oil paintings of nautical themes also stand out. The Mansion is framed by large wooden windows that overlook the entire harbor, as well as the beautiful terraces.

On the West side of the city you can see the four-storey Mansion of Topazis in the Italian style, built by Manolis Topazis and his wife Xanthi Sahini, which has belonged to the School of Fine Arts since 1936 and functions as its annex. Today its rooms serve as hostels for budding artists who come to wrestle with the colors and magical volumes of the Hydra. The roofs and wooden doors inside are new, and the upstairs living room with its Maltese stone floor is considered its most original room. On the ceiling, the four corners and the central rosette have been preserved. Its roofed loggias are unique.

Behind the Mansions of Voulgaris and Tombazis, on the hill with a fortified character among the pines and an amazing view, stands the Mansion built by Georgios Kountouriotis, one of the largest shipowners of Hydra and an active politician during the Revolution. It was later inherited by his grandson Pavlos Kountouriotis, admiral during the Balkan Wars and first President of the Hellenic Republic. Each of its windows, if opened, perfectly frames the landscape, like a work of art that sometimes depicts the sea and sometimes the picturesque settlement. Today it functions as a Museum of the modern history of Hydra.

In the same area are also the Mansions of Kallergis – Votsis, now Daki Ioannou and the Economos, as well as other old Mansions of some other historical figures, who by converting their commercial ships into warships lost great fortunes, but identified their name with the independence of Greece.

“If you start noticing the details, then the Hydra is inexhaustible,” says visual artist Dimitris Antonitsis, as we enter one of the old Kriezides Mansions, smaller in scale but very special for the respect with which the important American artist Brice Marden (its current owner). The pulled plaster around the doors and windows, the octagonal ceramic tile floors, the wooden shutters, and even the handmade door in the old coop have been preserved with almost touching care.

Neoclassicism embraces large Mansions, such as the Mansion of Georgios Sahinis and Eleni Theodorakis, located behind the “Xeri Elia” tavern.

To the west of the city, outside the settlement, there is also the Mansion of Boudouris, now Karpida, which has a large garden and a private chapel.

The Mansion of Kriezides beyond the city on the road to Vlychos

In the Kala Pigadia district there is the Mansion of Gorogiannis, in which there is a typical Macedonian-style living room.

In the area of Kaminia is the Mansion of Theodorakis (son-in-law of Kriezis), where the Hydra Nursing Home is currently housed.

A unique case among these large buildings, the currently demolished serai of bey G. Voulgari, a real fortress and palace together, built in 1800 on a Constantinopolitan plan.