Mansion of Pulkos: An architectural jewel in Siatista

Hearing the name Siatista, the first thing that comes to mind is a small town in the mountains of Macedonia that has locked its history in more than a hundred scattered mansions. Some visited and others in a dilapidated state, the mansions of Siatista were identified with family stories, riches and past glories of another era. Within this “oasis of mansions”, best known to the general public is the mansion of Pulkos.

Turning into the small alley in the Geraneia district of Siatista, the whitewashed stone-built mansion with its dark-colored eaves and small wooden windows immediately catches the eye. At a quick glance, the tall and imposing mansion leaves the bittersweet feeling of a bygone and somewhat forgotten glory of a different era. Standing at the door of the stone wall, you wonder who this mysterious Pulko could be for whose sake such a magnificent mansion was built.

In fact, the famous mansion was not only not built for the sake of the mysterious Pulkos, but became her property almost two centuries after its foundation. The story of the magnificent mansion begins almost 300 years earlier, when the itinerant Greek merchant of the Ottoman Empire, originally from Siatista, Theodoros Emmanuilidis, decided to build a huge mansion in his hometown.

As the stone inscription next to the main entrance of the mansion states, the mansion was founded in 1752 and, according to historical sources, was intended as the main residence of the Shiatist merchant, who had then acquired administrative powers in the area. Planning down to the smallest detail, Emmanuelides invited the most famous craftsmen of the region to take care of the interior of the large residence he intended for himself.

The result; An ultra-luxurious – by the standards of the time – mansion with two floors, porches, fireplaces, utility rooms, a huge cellar for wine storage and winding stairs for the huge ones.

Luxurious interior decoration that literally covers every corner of the space/Photo: Sofia Siakati

Photo: Sofia Siakati

Photo: Sofia Siakati

In addition to the complex layout of the space, what catches the attention of every visitor is the luxurious interior decoration that literally covers every corner of the space, leaving no surface uncovered. As a wealthy merchant, Emmanuelides had commissioned painted stained glass windows, wood-carved painted ceilings, skylights, city murals, mesanders, wooden wardrobes and elaborate doors to decorate the huge ondas he had designed. Such sophisticated decoration makes you wonder what the mansion would be like if the divans with the colorful flokates and the tables with the Macedonian pies and hot tea were also found in these spaces.

As a cosmopolitan merchant of the 18th century, Emmanuelides wanted to show off the enormous wealth he had accumulated, but also to keep the memories of the travels he had made. However, since photography was an unknown word at the time, Emmanuelides hired the most skilled painters of the region to paint the best city murals, as well as the rare stained glass windows with which he filled the rooms of the mansion.

Photo: Sofia Siakati

Among other things, the Pulkos mansion is known for the rare fresco of Constantinople – based on a corresponding copper engraving from the Vatopedi Monastery – with its pastel colors, thin black lines and flying dragons, while Byzantine eagles, plants and painted garlands adorn many of the exceptionally well-preserved frescoes that exist in various parts of the mansion. Not to mention, of course, the painted square ceilings and all sorts of surfaces covered with elaborate plant motifs in shades of green, red and yellow.

Stained Glass/Photo: Wikipedia Creative Commons

Perhaps, however, the rare stained glass windows of the mansion are more impressive. Painted in bright colors that allow the little light of the cloudy area to harmoniously penetrate the space, they create a feeling of warmth in a colorful feast that fills the space. Ornate flowering plants, Byzantine eagles, shields and other symbols fill the square stained glass windows that are placed with mathematical precision high on the walls.

Although the luxury of the mansion exceeded all imagination for the conditions of the time, luck was not on Emmanuelides’ side. Fate had other plans and he did not get to enjoy the luxurious residence he was preparing, as he died of an unknown cause without ever having time to inaugurate the house that he so painstakingly designed from scratch.

Very quickly, the mansion changed hands, as a fellow citizen of Emmanuelides and a well-known tobacco merchant in Vienna, Lazaros Pulkidis, wanted to endow his beloved daughter and was looking to buy one of the best houses in Siatista for her. Somehow, the demonic merchant paid for land and water to buy Emmanuelides’ ready-made house, and the new owners immediately settled in the magnificent mansion. Over the next two centuries, the mansion was passed from generation to generation until in 1910 the infamous Pulko – scion of the Pulkidis family – inherited the mansion from her mother. For some – still unknown – reason, the heiress Pulkos also bequeathed her name to the mansion, which remains to this day known as the mansion of Pulkos.

Photo: Sofia Siakati

Photo: Sofia Siakati

Photo: Sofia Siakati

Photo: Sofia Siakati

The mansion was continuously inhabited by the descendants of the owners until 1965, when the Greek government expropriated most of the mansions of Siatista with the aim of protecting them from the rampant counter-provision that threatened them with definitive disappearance. The expropriation, however, was accompanied by a very slow restoration and the mansion finally became open to the public almost fifty years later.

Before the restoration, the mansion was in a very bad condition. Two centuries of continuous habitation had left their mark for good. The frescoes had faded and the wooden decoration had nothing to do with its original glory, while the garden of the mansion had been filled with auxiliary stilts that buried the imposing facade of the building for good. This resulted in the mansion-jewel remaining in obscurity for many years and after continuous restorations finally becoming open to the public in 2017. Although today it has ceased to be a residence, the luxurious mansion of Pulkos constantly hosts cultural events and is open daily to the public for tours offering a nostalgic tour of a bygone past.