The House of Hatzigeorgakis Kornesios / Ethnological Museum

The House of Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios is the residence of the dragoman Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios and his family, who lived there between 1793 and 1808. The dragoman served as the interpreter between the Christian population and the Ottoman governor. This manor house is one of the most characteristic examples of 18th-century Cypriot urban architecture and is now open to the public as a museum. It is a large, two-story stone-built house located in the center of old Nicosia, not far from the Archbishopric.

The architectural plan of the building in the shape of the Greek letter Pi surrounds a central garden with a fountain and a private bathhouse (hamam), which is comprised of three rooms. The servants’ quarters and the kitchen were situated on the ground floor, roofed wooden stairs with a stone base lead to the entrance hall on the first floor from the courtyard, and the official reception room and the living areas, communicated with the reception hall. The official reception room – at the end of the east wing – differs from the the other rooms due to its exceptional wood carved, gilded and painted decoration, which liken it to other official reception rooms in many mansions of the Ottoman Empire.

This manor house is one of the most important surviving 18th century buildings in Lefkosia and was restored by the Department of Antiquities to house the Cyprus Ethnological Museum, receiving the ‘Europa Nostra’ award in 1988.