Friday, October 16, 2009

Malliaropouleio


I took this picture of the recently refurbished Malliaropouleio Theatre in Tripoli, Greece. Having done a quick online search, this is the only information I've been able to find:

Malliaropouleio Theatre opened in 1910. It has an excellent neo-Baroque architecture and striking interior decoration. During the Second Word War it was looted by Italian soldiers. In recent years, many efforts to restore it have been made.

I also looked for old photos of the same theatre, and these are the best ones I came across. The first must have been taken during one of the earlier restoration efforts, maybe 15-20 years ago. I've no idea how old the other one is. I would guess it was taken in the 30's or 40's.


If I had found them earlier I'd have taken a couple of photos from the exact same angles, so we could make before-and-after comparisons. Maybe next time...

12 comments:

VP said...

Just learned of the existence of a Tripoli in Greece and checked it in a rush with Wikipedia.
Nice theatre, I really like this set of photos, they did a very good job of restoration.
Interesting to receive another sad confirm of how Italians behaved in Greece during last war.

Margarita said...

Is it in use nowadays or still in restoration?

Tinsie said...

@ Vogon Poet: See, you learn a new thing every day through blogging ;-)

Italian soldiers generally have a good reputation in Greece. This is the first looting incident I've heard of, and I'm sure these things happen in every war. Fighting doesn't bring out the best in people.

@ Marg: I *think* it's still in (the final stages of) restoration.

Anonymous said...

very gorgeous buildings

Lowell said...

Wonderful building...so glad it has been restored.

Gattina said...

Finally they ristore things instead of knocking them down as they did with so many beautiful old houses in Athenes.

BTW I am sure that on sundays you won't dress up like during the week, so that's what I wanted to see. If you jump from your pyjama right away in a cocktail dress, it doesn't matter, lol ! Just show it.

Tinsie said...

@ Jacob & Gattina: Yes, so glad the tide has turned and restoration of old buildings is a la mode again :-)

Unseen India Tours said...

Beautiful and fantastic building !! This post is beautiful !! Thanks for sharing..Unseen Rajasthan

Tinsie said...

You are very welcome! Glad you liked it :-)

Tinsie said...

Gattina, sadly many of Athens's old buildings seem to have suffered the same fate as the beautiful buildings of Brussels: they've been replaced by grey cement monsters that were architects' idea of "modern" back in the 50's and 60's :-(

Gattina said...

This architectural "fashion" started in Brussels ! An Architect told me that there is a special word when something is really very ugly then they say that the architect has "brusseled" !! It had become a new vocabulary !
BTW I have two email addresses one private and one on my gattina name at gmail. That's practical.

Tinsie said...

To be honest, I don't think it's just Brussels or Athens. Much of Germany seems to have had the same treatment - Cologne, Frankfurt, Berlin are full of unsightly buildings that must once have been the height of architectural fashion, and I'm sure the same thing has happened in other cities all over Europe too. London, Manchester, Glasgow and most British cities have (had) their own share of slams and tower blocks that people once found trendy...