Plaster Casting Workshop

Mr. Charilaou, 13 years old (1966), started as an apprentice with his brother working for the best craftsman in Athens, Dimitris Pantaleon, for 35 drachmas a day. His teacher, from Alexandria, Egypt, had a gift for carving in gypsum. He employed more than 30 people in his workshop. The best craftsmen then came out on the market, from this teacher and from the last to help him until he stopped working, were the Charilaou brothers. He gave everyone something carved of his own and the craftsman Stamatis, the griffin, made in the 70's. The experience of the Gypsum Craftsman is measured over the years but also by the quality of the works.

Villas of famous people such as Rena Vlachopoulou, Georgios Mavrou, George Papandreou A’ and others, were places with which the Gypsum Graftsmens of Dimitris Pantaleon enriched their experience in the art of gypsum. The Charilaou brothers opened their own workshop (1975) in Kalogreza Athens. They had the best supplies to cope with every requirement. At the same time, the older brother Konstantis Charilaou also worked on the copies of the Greek Archaeological Museum. Their know-how was at its zenith. The decentralization and reconstruction of the island brought the younger brother Stamatis to his hometown of Samos in the 1986, with the art of gypsum decoration being imprinted by the craftsman in every house, hotel and building that was required. To this day, the Plaster Casting Workshop is preserved as it left it, after its retirement in 2013, and keeps all the memories of this art.

The works of the Pantaleon crew included palaces, hotels, famous villas and countless houses and apartment buildings. The lion-shaped corbels of Great Britain still support its outdoor balconies. The later gypsum decorations in the Maximos Mansion to house the prime minister's needs are imposing. The "Kavouri" hotel in Vouliagmeni was supposed to accommodate the 12 wives and 25 children with their families of the exiled former king of Arabia, Ibn Saud. A new luxurious wing had to be created and decorated with the most beautiful gypsum.

The Plaster Casting Workshop is an experiential experience for any visitor interested in getting to know in a simple and pleasant way, the use of gypsum in Greek architecture and the decoration of buildings. It is based on the contact with the material and the creativity that the participants will experience. Also, the historical reference to the application of gypsum in mansions and neoclassical buildings, through photographic albums and documents, as well as the knowledge about the stages of processing and production of the material, is an exciting experience! As mentioned above, the goal of the theoretical and practical parts is for the participants to acquire the basic knowledge so that it is a position:

Know the stages of the manufacturing process.
To experience the sense of creativity of the Gypsum Craftsman.
To acquire the basic knowledge of plaster processing.
To externalize their creativity.
Create their own copy from gypsum.

Επικοινωνήστε μαζί μας για να ενημερωθείτε για τις ειδικές τιμές που έχουμε διαμορφώσει για Σχολικές επισκέψεις, εκδρομές ενηλίκων (πχ Κ.Α.Π.Η.) , Συλλόγους, Θεατρικές ομάδες κ.α.

The History of Gypsum.
The usefulness of the material in Greek Architecture.
The process of processing gypsum.
The stages of creating an object from gypsum.

Participants attend an original educational program where they will be initiated into the process of creating objects of Ancient and Modern Greek art from gypsum, using molds and materials provided by Culture and Prosperity s.c.e. Participants will have the opportunity to get to know, through historical retrospection, the use of plaster from antiquity to the present day, the history of the objects, while they will be informed about the above through audiovisual material.

The release of one's creativity by traveling to the "Path of the Gypsum Craftsman", which leads to the magical world of Gypsum, is a subset that helps to acquire beautiful emotions and to record them in his memory forever. On the other hand, the Plaster Casting Workshop contributes, as a point of creative expression, to the development of skills, to the contact of participants with the Cultural Elements of Greece by linking the creation of a copy with the historical events that connect it and the acquisition of basic knowledge about the usefulness of plaster.

Actions in Creative Tourism.

The team of Culture and Prosperity s.c.e. attended the series of seminars organized by Development Olympia (LEADER project implementing body and ENERDECA implementing partner) in Ancient Olympia in 2024.

The ENERDECA project (Enhancing European Rural Development Capabilities) is a LEADER Transnational Cooperation Project, i.e. it is implemented jointly by nineteen (19) Local Action Groups (bodies implementing LEADER programs) with Kavala Development S.A. as Lead Partner. It focuses on the development and promotion of a distinct product of Creative Tourism, which will help local communities to highlight the cultural and environmental capital of LEADER areas and exchange experiences and know-how.

The dissemination of information on the historical events that connect each gypsum copy is based on Greek and foreign bibliography. While the choice of molds arises depending on the topic of the seminar.