The House of Pierides was built in two stages. First, the ground floor was built, then the first floor, followed by a two-story terrace at the end of the 19th century. Such terraces are characteristic of the colonial taste and you can find them in many corners of the world those days — from the United States to India. These overseas terraces were favored by Cypriots, despite the heat: before that, enclosed wooden balconies with small windows, “sachnisi” in Greek, were fashionable on the island, as well as in the Ottoman Empire in general.

Inside is the oldest private museum on the island, with a rich archaeological collection that has been collected by five generations of the family.

The founder was Demetrius Pierides (1811–1895): having studied in London, he was British Consul on Cyprus before the island passed into British hands. Demetrius also ran the local branch of the Ottoman Bank and was involved in the creation of the Cyprus Museum. From the website of the British Museum in London, we learn that Demetrius donated and sold to this prestigious museum many valuable objects, including stone sculptures from Idalion (an archaeological area near the modern village of Dali), terracotta figures, and vases.

The collection of the Museum of Pierides now includes artefacts from the Neolithic and Bronze Age to the Middle Ages. The museum is managed by Peter Ashdjian, an 8th-generation Pierides.

By the way, Larnaca’s outstanding Art Deco monuments, the Chacholiades Mansion (see my “Vanishing Homes” itinerary) and Evanthia Pieridis’s house on the Seaside Boulevard (on the beach) are also associated with this family.Opposite the Pierides lived another remarkable Larnaca family.