Chatzikyriakeio Girls’ Orphanage

The Chatzikyriakeio Childcare Foundation is located in the homonymous district that extends to the southeast of the city of Piraeus. It is housed in a large three-story neoclassical building with a basement, including classrooms, dormitories, administration areas and utility rooms. The building was founded on April 30, 1889 by Queen Olga, and it was built according to the plans of K. Theofilas on an area of 50 acres and completed in 1897. The floor plan of the building develops in the shape of a square, having a large internal atrium with a peripheral gallery and arched openings. Corner spaces on all floor surfaces are slightly overhanging. A very characteristic feature is the format of the openings on the faces, which have a semi-circular ending and are decorated with false pilasters on either side, while on the second floor they also have a protruding cornice. Over the years, the Chatzikyriakeio Foundation building was requisitioned several times, in 1913 to be used as a hospital for the war-wounded, in 1922 in the Asia Minor Catastrophe, where it functioned as a hospital and refugee treatment center, in 1941, where it remained in use by foreign forces throughout the Occupation and in 1945 to become a treatment center for returning refugees.