The rooms displaying the poet’s personal belongings and furniture reflect the ambiance of his private space in Alexandria. Amid family photographs, vases, frames, a copy of his glasses, his desk, and other tiny and large objects, six portraits of the poet by contemporary artists stand out. Unique among the exhibited items are the poet’s untouched possessions: his death mask, as well as the first edition of Cavafy’s poems, edited by Rica Singopoulo and illustrated by Takis Kalmouchos, which was printed in 1935 following the poet’s death.

In ‘The Athens of Cavafy,’ the pages from Cavafy’s diaries during his trips to Athens stand out, along with a plethora of letters and notes expressing admiration and emotion for the work of the Alexandrian poet by Grigorios Xenopoulos, Ion Dragoumis, Angelos Sikelianos, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Tellos Agras, Napoleon Lapathiotis, and the lawyer and economist Georgios Charitakis, who conveyed Kostis Palamas’ praise for Cavafy’s work, among others. The hall also includes editions from distinguished Athenian poets and writers with handwritten dedications to Cavafy. Angelos Sikelianos dedicated his ‘Τελευταίος Ορφικός Διθύραμβος / The Last Orphic Dithyramb’ (1932), Kostas Karyotakis his ‘Νηπενθή / Without Sorrow’ (1921), Miltiadis Malakasis his ‘Αντίφωνα / Antiphonal [Voices]’ (1931), Giorgos Theotokas his ‘Ώρες αργίας / Leisure Hours’ (1931), and Galateia Kazantzakis her ’11 π.μ. – 1 μ.μ. κι’ άλλα διηγήματα / 11 am – 1 pm and Other Stories’ (1929).

@ Pinelopi Gerasimou

The Reading Room in the building on Frynichou Street serves as a meeting space for the public with Cavafy’s physical archive. Within this area, two sections of artworks are hosted. In the ‘Portraits of Cavafy’ section, the Alexandrian poet is presented through the eyes of eminent Greek and international artists in six unique portraits by Nikos Engonopoulos, David Levine, Giorgos Ioannou, Sotiris Sorogas, Aria Komianou, and Yannis Kyriakidis. On the other hand, the section “Egyptiotes painters” invites us to imagine everyday life in Alexandria in the era of C. P. Cavafy through ten artworks created by contemporary with the poet Egyptiotes, i.e., Egyptian Greek painters, which capture fragments of life in the city where he was born and lived himself.

The building at 16 Frynichou Street was constructed in 1910. It was classified as a preserved building by the Ministry of Culture in 1978 and as a monument of architectural heritage requiring special protection, showcasing exceptional and morphological interest with strong elements of eclecticism from the 1920–1930 period. Furthermore, the decoration on its façade is impressive, successfully utilizing colonnades in its openings. The building is excellently preserved and harmonizes with its surroundings, as Frynichou Street is one of the access roads to Plaka, conserving several remarkable buildings from the same period. In 1989, a two-story underground extension was added to the existing preserved building. According to legislation, the removal, alteration, or destruction of individual decorative and architectural elements and the building itself is prohibited. Despite the rich external eclectic-neo-baroque decoration, its interior lacks a corresponding architectural style.