The cultural treasure of the city
Municipal Library of Patra
Adress: 110 Maizonos Str., Patras
Tel. of Reading Room +30 2610 224813
mail: [email protected]
https://patraslibrary.weebly.com
Municipal Library of Patra
The origins of the Municipal Library of Patras lie in the donation of the library of the “Patra Craft Company” to the Municipality of Patras in 1903.
Δημοτική Βιβλιοθήκη Πατρών – Αναγνωστήριο / Municipal Library of Patras – Reading Room
In 1908, after petitions through the local Press, the Municipal Library of Patras was founded, and the first Supervisory Committee was elected. The Library was housed in the school on the corner of Gounari and Karaiskaki Streets. Two years later, in 1910, the official opening ceremony took place.
The Library closed in 1926, abandoned, and its contents were stored in the basement of the Municipality until 1944, when a group of book lovers transported them to the house of former mayor Ioannis Vlachos and subsequently to the Karamandani Mansion, on 42 Maizonos Street.
Δημοτική Βιβλιοθήκη Πατρών – Αρχιτεκτονικό σχέδιο / Municipal Library of Patra – Floorplan
In 1947 the postwar Municipal Library was inaugurated, with 18,200 books, mostly donated by the public. In 1948, by royal decree, the Library became a legal entity governed by public law. In 1955 the new building was inaugurated, and the books transported there.
Since 2011, the Library is part of a newly founded legal entity governed by public law, under the name “Municipal Library-Cultural Organization of the Municipality of Patras”. It comprises the Central Library (110 Maizonos Street) and the Annex (Eleftheria Square, 26 Fokaias Street). The ground floor houses the Children’s Department and the Municipal Gallery. Visitors can use the reading room, borrow books, access the Internet, use the computers for research purposes, and there are workstations for people with disabilities.
Head of the Library is the librarion Ms. Aikaterini Kourou
Future plans
The Municipal Library of Patras falls under the category of public libraries. Within this framework, its plans include the restoration of the buildings and the upgrading of services and functions, in order to develop into a large central public library that will support the right to self-education and public education, providing access to every resident of the city. Furthermore, it may also become the centre of a network of municipal/public libraries in the neighbouring municipalities and regions.
Δημοτική Βιβλιοθήκη Πατρών – Εκπαιδευτικό πρόγραμμα / Municipal Library of Patra − Educational programme
For the moment, a study for the creation of a modern section for children/teenagers, a department for digital technologies and an exhibition of rare books and documents is underway.
Moreover, funding is being sought for the installation of digital services through the use of radio-frequency identification technology (RFID).
ΕΚΔΟΣΕΙΣ
The Greek Pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
The Greek Pavilion in the Giardini of Venice is transformed into a contemporary Platonic Cave by Andreas Angelidakis, the visual artist and architect representing Greece at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia with the work “Escape Room,” from May 9 to November 22, 2026. The iconic Platonic allegory is reactivated as an immersive, habitable environment situated in the era of post-truth and the rise of nationalist populism in the work of this internationally acclaimed artist. The curator of the Greek participation is Giorgos Bekirakis. Andreas Angelidakis notes: “The National Pavilions in the ...More
National Gallery Greece, Nafplio Annex| Eleni Pavlopoulou-Zoeforos | March 28, 2026 – January 17, 2027
The Nafplio Annex of the National Gallery Greece – Alexandros Soutsos Museum is hosting an exhibition dedicated to the paintings of Eleni Pavlopoulou, titled *Zoeforos*, in its temporary exhibition hall. The exhibition features twenty-one works of art that engage in a dialogue with the historical paintings in the permanent collection of the Nafplio annex of the National Gallery – Alexander Soutsos Museum. The aim of the exhibition is not to represent visual reality but to explore new ways of seeing, to seek out multiple meanings, and to reinterpret the past through the lens of the present. ...More
The deadline for submitting applications for the 7th Contemporary Dance Festival “Compartments Dance Project” has been extended to March 22
The Train-Theater “The Train” in Rouf announces an extension of the deadline for submitting proposals for the 7th Contemporary Dance Festival “Compartments Dance Project.” The new deadline for submissions is March 22, 2026. For the seventh consecutive year, the Train-Theater “The Train” in Rouf opens its doors and invites young dancers, choreographers, and contemporary dance companies to participate in the 7th Contemporary Dance Festival “Compartments Dance Project,” which will take place for the first time in the spring, from May 17 to 31, 2026. Since its launch in 2016 as a special section of the “The ...More
Lecture by Manolis Stavrakakis at the Epigraphic Museum | “The Traces of Linear B” | March 26, 2026
The Association of Greek Archaeologists (HOS) and the Epigraphic Museum are organizing a lecture by Mr. Manolis Stavrakakis, Assistant Professor at the School of Architecture of the National Technical University of Athens, entitled “The Traces of Linear B,” on Thursday, March 26, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. in the Lecture Hall of the Epigraphic Museum (1 Tositsa Street, Athens). What is the connection between Michael Ventris’s decipherment of Linear B and its architecture? The talk attempts, through an analogical reading of decipherment (Writing) and architecture (Drawing), to show how one process influenced the other. It will focus ...More
Leave A Comment