THE BUILDING that today houses the Leventis Municipal Museum of Nicosia is situated in the heart of the capital’s old town. It is one of the few remaining three-storey neoclassical buildings of the area and is of great historical, social and architectural interest. The modest façade of the building does not reveal the treasures that lie within.
The house was originally built in 1885 by the merchant Ioannis Evangelides and was given as a dowry to his daughter Elenitsa on her marriage to Nicolaos Dervis, a doctor from Alexandria. The building was one of three identical homes, one for each daughter. One of the houses was at one point sold and at a later stage demolished. The other two still stand as testament to an era long gone. The other of the remaining homes houses the Sewage Board of Nicosia and stands adjacent to the museum.
The museum and the sewage board were rescued from possible demolition by then Mayor of Nicosia Lellos Demetriades and the Foundation of Anastasios G. Leventis. “ In 1983 the building (that now houses the museum) was about to be demolished, but after the initiative of Demetriades, the foundation bought the house and funded the money for its restoration with the aim to convert it into a museum,” said museum curator Loukia Loizou Hadjigavriel. The administration of the museum is now under the responsibility of the Municipality of Nicosia.
“Pefkios Georgiades, architect and present Minister of Education undertook the restoration of the building. Changes had to be made in order to accommodate the needs of a museum but no drastic changes were made to the character of the building.
During the conversion antiquities were discovered in the basement of the building dating back to the 13th to 14th century. “A medieval well was found as well as ceramic pots,” Hadjigavriel said. Prior to being converted into a museum the building served as the clinic and residence of Nicosia mayor, Dr Themistoklis Dervis – son of Nicolaos and Elenitsa – who lived there until his death in 1968.
Alterations to the structure of the building created a suitable entrance for the disabled while the garden walls was converted into a small amphitheatre and a venue for outdoor events. “In about one and a half years the administrative offices that are being housed for the time being at Solonos street we’ll be moved to the building adjacent to the museum. We are expanding the exhibition areas as well, as space is very important for displaying artefacts,” Hadjigavriel said. “There will be an area designed specifically for children so they can grasp the feel of bygone days. Other educational programmes aimed at enlightening the young ones about our history will be at hand”.
Director of the European Museum of the Year Award Committee Kenneth Hudson summed the place up in 1991 when it won, saying “it is a museum with style, with wit, with cultural balance and above all, with a keen sense of the needs and tastes of today’s public.”
