The Buildings
Ioannis Evangelides, a successful merchant, commissioned the construction of three large Neoclassical mansions in the Trypiotis area of Nicosia, intended as dowries for his three daughters, Maritsa, Aspasia and Cleopatra.
- Maritsa married Christodoulos Severis, who was to become the first mayor of Nicosia (1882-1888), and they settled in the first building (15 Ippokratous Street).
- Aspasia married the prosperous merchant Ioannis Zachariades, and they took up residence in the second building (17 Ippokratous Street). In 1885 they gave the house to their daughter, Elenitsa, spouse of the Greek doctor Nikolaos Dervis.
- Cleopatra married Ioannis Economides, a lawyer and judge and also the founder of the Nicosia Savings Bank. The couple took up residence in the third building (19 Ippokratous Street). The family of Evangelos Evangelides, son of Ioannis Evangelides, also resided in the same building.
The son of Nikolaos and Elenitsa Dervis, Themistocles Dervis, was baptised.
In honour of Dr Nikolaos Dervis, the Nicosia Municipality renamed the street in front of his residence as Ippokratous Street.
A further floor was added to the house of Elenitsa and Nikolaos Dervis to accommodate their daughter Ioanna, who married Costas Theodosiades in the same year.
Elenitsa Dervis’s son, Themistocles, took up residence in her house, which he went on to convert into a clinic. The house later became the headquarters of the Cyprus National Party, of which he was president. Themistocles Dervis was also the mayor of Nicosia for 27 years (1929-1946, 1949-1959).
The building at 15 Ippokratous Street operated as the Victoria Hotel.
The building at 19 Ippokratous Street was demolished, and a complex of shops and apartments was built on the site.
Following the death of Themistocles Dervis, the building at 17 Ippokratous Street was abandoned.
The building at 17 Ippokratous Street was used as a temporary residence for refugees of the 1974 invasion.
The Dervis family mansion at 17 Ippokratous Street was in ruins and about to be demolished. At that time, the mayor of Nicosia, Lellos Demetriades, instigated the idea of establishing a civic history museum. Although demolition works were in progress, the building was purchased, with the support of the late Constantinos Leventis, by the A. G. Leventis Foundation to be restored as the home of the new museum of the history of Nicosia.
In the same year the adjacent building (15 Ippokratous Street) was purchased by the Sewerage Board of Nicosia in order to be renovated and converted into offices.
An agreement between the A. G. Leventis Foundation and the Nicosia Municipality was signed. The reconstruction and organisation of the building at 17 Ippokratous Street began. The city council decided to name the museum the Leventis Municipal Museum of Nicosia in honour of its benefactor.
Loukia Loizou was appointed as Curator-Director. Pefkios Georgiades was appointed as architect of the project.
On 16 April the Association of the Friends of the Leventis Municipal Museum of Nicosia was founded.
On 20 April the Museum opened its doors to the public. Cyprus acquired its first civic history museum with modern museum methods and concepts.
In the autumn, with the collaboration of the Association of the Friends of the Museum, the educational programmes began.
The Committee of the European Museum of the Year Award, under the auspices of the Council of Europe, honoured the Leventis Municipal Museum of Nicosia with the award for 1991.
The Museum closed to the public while the Nicosia and British Galleries, as well as the Temporary Exhibition Hall, were renovated with the sponsorship of the A. G. Leventis Foundation.
On 19 May the Museum reopened.
The Nikolaos Tsikkinis house, a small traditional building at 18 Solonos Street dating to the end of the 18th century, was purchased by the A. G. Leventis Foundation in order to enable the Museum to expand and create more exhibition space.
On 31 December an agreement was signed between the A. G. Leventis Foundation and the Sewerage Board of Nicosia for the purchase of the Neoclassical building at 15 Ippokratous Street to be used for the expansion of the Museum.
The works for the restoration of the building at 18 Solonos Street began.
On 18 May the new annex of the Museum, the House of Educational Programmes, opened at 18 Solonos Street, inaugurated by the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Tassos Papadopoulos.
In April work began for the expansion of the Museum at the 15 Ippokratous Street mansion and the creation of the Constantine Leventis Wing.
On 9 January the Museum inaugurated the new Constantine Leventis Wing and the new exhibition halls.
On 1 January Loukia Loizou Hadjigavriel handed over the position of Director to Demetra Papanikola-Bakirtzi.
The Leventis Municipal Museum of Nicosia celebrated its 30th anniversary of operation with the theme ‘The Leventis Municipal Museum of Nicosia: 30 years the heart of Nicosia!’. With a rich celebratory programme, the Museum presented the decisive role it plays as the heart of Nicosia that continues to beat powerfully in the cultural pulses of the city.
On 1 January Demetra Papanikola-Bakirtzi handed over the position of Director to Demetra Theodotou Anagnostopoulou.
18 Solonos Street – The Creativity Centre
In 2001 the small late 18th-century building where Nikolaos Tsikkinis, one of the town’s best-known teachers, had been born and lived, was purchased by the A. G. Leventis Foundation. Since 2006, following its renovation, the house served as the House of Educational Programmes, hosting focussed learning programmes and small temporary exhibitions of an educational nature.
In 2021 the Museum created a new identity for its educational programmes with the accompanying slogan ‘Learn something new’ (#μάθεκατινεο, #LMMN_katineo). This identity timidly made its appearance through online actions as a harbinger of a larger project: the planned upgrade and renovation of the House of Educational Programmes.
The building has been transformed into the Creativity Centre and from March 2022 began hosting original and fun workshops and programmes for all ages. With this initiative, #LMMN_katineo has been shaking up Nicosia’s cultural activities ever since, offering alternative educational ways of quality engagement in the capital.
In July the Deputy Director of the Museum, Tzeni Lymperopoulou Savvidou, assumed the duties of Director.
