Mani’s foremost historic hotel
The old store, the residence, the warehouse and the imposing tower have been restored and converted into a hotel run by the Kyrimis family. The name Kyrimai is derived from the Byzantine root of the Kyrimis surname, that is to say the biblical phrase “Kyrie imon” (our Lord).
The old wine storage room, with its impressive arch and antique safe, now forms the reception area. Next to it, the old wood storage room is home to numerous exhibits, mainly records and other documents as well as hundreds of old books, which were brought to light when these old buildings were cleared – a veritable treasure trove the perusal of which takes us back to the era of glory, commercial and otherwise, that Greece experienced in the late nineteenth century.
The buildings that now comprise Kyrimai hotel have been restored by the Kyrimis family with the utmost care and respect for tradition. The original materials, mainly stone and wood, have been used throughout and the whole process has been carried out in strict accordance with the architecture and measurements of the buildings.
The result is unique – a complex of stairways, arches and inner yards situated in an enviable position, on the edge the sea, with a breathtaking view of the natural Gerolimenas bay.
Travel through time
The complex that houses Kyrimai is elegantly built and restored according to the owners’ personal taste – but it also carries a long history. Proudly standing on the port of Gerolimenas since the 1870s, the complex is rich in history, in archives and artifacts but also in the stories of the people that have stayed and worked in it through the decades. Visiting Kyrimai is like traversing its 150-year history.
Back to 1870
What is it that connects the island of Syros to Mani? Syros Industrial Museum and Gerolimenas? Gerolimenas and Marseilles?
The answers can be found on a visit to Kyrimai Hotel, in the region of Mani. It was there that, almost 150 years ago, Michael Katsimantis, a trader from Syros and Theodore Kyrimis, a trader and then serving mayor of Middle Mani, came up with an idea that would put Mani on the commercial map of what was then free Greece.
Maniot products were soon being shipped to and sold in the markets of Ermoupolis and Piraeus, while a variety of other products started finding their way to this, the southernmost tip of the Peloponnese.
Taking advantage of the development of trade that was going on throughout the region, Theodore Kyrimis soon started putting his powerful social position to good use, exporting the products of Mani to the whole of the Mediterranean.
