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The Poulko mansion in Siatista
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The Poulko (or Poulkidis) mansion stands in the Yerania neighbourhood and, as the inscription above the entrance testifies, its construction began in 1752.
-Its facade, in the section just under the roof, isdecorated with stylized ornamental motifs (rosettes, stars) and a ship. In the upper rooms the plaster transom windows can still be seen with their complex stained glass designs.
-In addition, the decorated plaster fireplace in an upstairs room is an exceptional work. Among the wall-paintings is one of Constantinople that seems to depict its siege by the Turks.
-Religious painting in Macedonia remained strongly attached to the Byzantine tradition for doctrinal and historical reasons, in that subjection to Islam led the Christians to rally around the authentic traditions of Orthodoxy.
-The monasteries on Mount Athos played a decisive role: under their guidance, the artists they invited from other parts of the Greek world painted works that then enriched the art of the local workshops.
-The major line of cleavage in painting falls in the 18th century, when the painters and their public became more receptive to elements drawn from western painting. This can be seen very clearly in the painting of secular buildings. The break with the Byzantine past came in the second half of the 19th century, in the context of a movement for the renewal of religious painting.
Wood-carving had a brilliant history from the 17th to the 19th century. The most exquisite works, influenced by European baroque, were originally destined for churches: iconostases, pulpits and so on. Secular wood-carving, which flourished particularly in the 18th century, was directly influenced by its ecclesiastical counterpart.
-The wood-carvers of Epirus, western Macedonia, Pelion, etc. were famous craftsmen. The mansions (`archontika') of Macedonia contain masterpieces of the wood-carver's art created by skilled craftsmen known as `tayiadoroi'.
-The wealth of the occupants is demonstrated by the elegant decoration of the wooden elements of the houses, such as ceilings, doors (especially to the reception room, the 'kalos ondas'), 'farsomata' (wooden panels), etc.
-The ceilings of the reception rooms in these houses were adorned with a circular or octagonal carved wooden centre-piece decorated with complicated geometric designs combined with motifs carved in the round and painted.
-The wooden panels and the built-in cupboards also had rich decoration, both carved and painted, or a combination of the two, and even making use of inlaid material.
-There was very little movable furniture in the houses of Macedonia, in contrast with those on the islands. The only wooden item that was decorated was the chest in which the daughter's dowry was kept.
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