Greece - Siatista, Poulko Mansion

The Poulko Mansion (also called Poulkidis Mansion) is located in the Geraneia neighbourhood in Siatista. According to an inscription over the entrance, its construction began in 1752 and probably completed in 1759. The building was commissioned by Theódoros Emmanouilídis, an Ottoman-era merchant from the town, and later purchased by tobacco merchant Lázaros Poúlkos (or Poulkídis).

The mansion consists of a semi-buried ground floor and two upper floors overlooking a courtyard that includes an oven, a cistern and a garden. The ground floor was used for storage. The first floor was used as the family's winter residence, with bedrooms featuring fireplaces and cupboards richly decorated with frescoes. The top floor had the same layout as the middle floor and was used as a summer residence.

The Poulko Mansion - a precious example of upper middle class daily life in 18th century western Macedonia - shows excellent decorative painting, stained glass windows and wood carvings. The plaster decorations on the mansion’s fireplaces are of amazing artistry. Its facade, in the section just under the roof, is decorated with stylized ornamental motifs (rosettes, stars) and a ship.

After a restoration the Poulko Mansion - a juwel of the small city of Siatista - is open to the public again