Fun facts about Laconia you didn’t know of until today from SNF

But Laconia is much more than that. It is a place simultaneously packed with history and full of potential, with myriad hidden facets that are worth getting to know better.

Though our work is global, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) shares a special bond with Laconia as the place where our founder, Stavros S. Niarchos, had his roots, and we are proud to support a suite of projects in the region under the banner of our Laconia Initiative.

We invite you to join us on a virtual tour of Laconia and the various projects to which we have lent support.

Let’s start in Vamvakou, a village located on the western slopes of Mount Parnon, which, until a few years ago, had only nine permanent residents. For the past five years, an effort to revive the village has been underway, initiated by four friends with roots in Vamvakou—like our founder—and with our creative cooperation and support. Now, thanks to Vamvakou Revival’s efforts, there are about 29 permanent residents living in the village.

Our tour continues with Sparta, the capital of Laconia, as our next stop. It is home to the Archaeological Museum of Sparta, the first archaeological museum built in Greece outside Athens, which is home to a significant collection of ancient objects. In collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, we are supporting the expansion of the museum and the creation of a new SNF Wing, for which internationally renowned architect Renzo Piano has undertaken its design. Our support also includes the restoration and maintenance of the museum garden.   

Just steps from the Archaeological Museum of Sparta is the House of Mosaics, which hosts two internationally renowned mosaics: The Abduction of Europa and Orpheus with the Animals, which were created between the end of the 3^rd and the beginning of the 4^th century BCE. SNF has also supported the effort to protect and showcase the mosaics, a project initiated by and implemented thanks to the vision of former Minister Ioannis Varvitsiotis, President of the nonprofit Friends of the Mosaics of Sparta. The House of Mosaics started welcoming visitors in May 2021.

Staying in Sparta, we travel next into the near future, to Felias Street, where the new School of Byzantine Music and Hagiography will officially open in 2025. Our collaboration with the Holy Metropolis of Monemvasia and Sparta and the Metropolitan of Monemvasia and Sparta, Efstathios, for the construction and outfitting of the School of Byzantine Music and Hagiography launched in April 2019, following a visit by SNF Co-President Andreas Dracopoulos and representatives of the Foundation to the region. The School is expected to welcome approximately 240 students per year.

Flying further ahead into the future, to the end of 2027, the new SNF  General Hospital of Sparta will start welcoming its first patients. The hospital will exclusively feature single and double rooms with access to gardens, with the goal of improving the healing process. The hospital staff, the patients, and their families will enjoy the benefits of natural light and open views of the mountains, the lush greenery, and the beauty of the Laconian landscape.

As part of our Global Health Initiative (GHI), SNF is supporting the design, construction, and outfitting of the new public SNF General Hospital of Sparta in an effort to strengthen health services for adults, young people, and children in Sparta, Laconia, and the wider region. The development of the hospital reflects a vision shared between SNF and Renzo Piano to create model hospitals for the future, in accordance with forward-looking environmental standards and focusing on the needs of patients and their caregivers. 

These are only a few of the infrastructure projects and activities we have supported in the region over the years. Our grantmaking in Laconia encompasses more than 50 grants, including for the restoration of the ancient theater of Sparta, as well as renovations and the procurement of equipment for schools and universities in the region and the Sparta Fire Department.

Knowing all this, don’t you think it’s time to get to know Laconia, Vamvakou, and all of the sites in Sparta and beyond up close and personal?