The Idyllic Venetian Villa in the heart of the resort known to the public as the Sikelianos Villa, was built by the famous Dante and poet himself Angelos Sikelianos and his American wife Eva Palmer on their return to Greece in 1912 and has hosted countless celebrations dedicated to art and poetry while having welcomed numerous intellects of the 20th century up to the mid1930s when the couple separated.
The construction of The Villa begun in 1912 and ended in 1916.
It was the couple’s first architectural attempt, so the building combines a variety of architectural traits from different eras, like, the columns draw inspiration from Classical Greece, the windows from the Byzantine era while all terraces have influences from Venice.
The Sikielianos couple gathered around them the greatest cultural ferment of the era – great intellects and Greek poets of the 20th century.
The Villa was often visited by famous intellects of the caliber of Palamas, Kazatzakis, Karyotakis who were very close to the couple. It is said that the big idea of the Delphic Fest was first conceived here and was carried out for the first time in the late 1920s’ at Delphi.
After the mid-1930s when the couple separated the villa was auctioned and during the second-world war transformed into Italian and German headquarters.
Finally, in the late 1950s the Typaldos brothers, eminent shipowners being the first to bring incoming tourism in Greece, well determined to invest and add tourist value to the area, bought the Villa and its surrounding estate and built bungalows and established the first hospitality unit in Greece.
Later, they turned the whole estate into a summer hotel.
In 1989, the villa was declared a historical monument of the country’s newest cultural heritage by former minister of culture Melina Mercouri and the summer hotel passes down to Leonidas Typaldos, grandson of the Typaldos brothers.
The Villa as part of Sikyon Coast Hotel & Resort was further developed under the direction of Leonidas Typaldos during the past 15 years with the inclusion of new gardens, terraces, an Italian restaurant and a 2021 total face-lift and refurbishment on both floors of the Villa turning the 1st floor of the Villa into a beautiful terraced appartement ideal for couples that are after more privacy.
Sikyon Coast and Resort is a modern-day resort offering high-end hospitality services while The Villa being the resort’s heritage reflects all the grandeur of a past nostalgic era, “transferring” the traveler into a fairy tale world through sunset drinks at its Venetian terraces, a candle-lit al fresco dinner at Angelo Italian restaurant or even a romantic stay for couples right inside the villa.
