Recently renovated mansion of Aktarika downtown and going to house the Vikelaia Library of Heraklion, a cultural institution with a great history which has justly been called "Academy of Sciences", as in previous years produced sufficient spiritual project in Humanities and the Arts .

Vikelaia Library: The Academy of Sciences

Recently renovated mansion of Aktarika downtown and going to house the Vikelaia Library of Heraklion, a cultural institution with a great history which has justly been called "Academy of Sciences", as in previous years produced sufficient spiritual project in Humanities and the Arts .

When you visit Heraklion and go through the Lions Square will confront a large and imposing building dominating the square: this is known as "Achtarika" as the locals know. Entitled "Achtarika" because long ago  there were small shops selling practically all sorts of drugs and potions (actuarius in Latin means "healer").

Vikelaia Library is named after the famous scholar Demetrius Vikela, who donated with his covenant his personal library to the Municipality of Heraklion. The Foundation began its operation in 1908 and by the late 1920s moved to the building of Achtarika. Followed by other donations of books and precious archival material, such as Elli Alexiou, George Anemoyiannis and library Maro and George Seferis.

The treasure of Vikelaia Library complement 250,000 volumes of books, 300,000 newspaper sheets, 500 periodical titles, 1,650 hours of audiovisual material. Also, the most important of all is the archival material, which is rare and valuable. This is the Venetian archives, which are microfilmed, records of the Ottomans and the archives of Elders Heraklion. It is a paradise for all those who love the book and the research of the past.

But to make possible the examination, if you are  motivated by the inspiration for the past, will have to wait until the building is completed fully and thus to transfer Vikelaia there. The Lending section of Vikelaia is currently on the street Brigadier Markopoulos 46, adjacent to the church St. Matthew. The building Achtarika is under complete renovation and rebuilding because in 2006 was  identified with statics problems . The new building is almost complete, but still requires substantial interventions to be delivered completely in use. The specifications bioclimatic building will house in the basement the children's section, on the first floor the general books section, in the second will be the foyer and event venue and also the libraries of Seferis, Vikelas and the file of Tzedakis and Spanakis . The basement is designed accordingly to highlight the archaeological findings through a glass floor. Of course, there will be a  "lounge", which has caused the systematic involvement of citizens, since there is the rumor that may be housed cafeteria. Because of this occurred the movement "Citizens for Vikelaia."

This movement took action when it became known by the municipal authority that would operate throughout the building various coffee shops and catering. Also, the culmination of all this was the information that the basement of the building are thrown to rodents and dust quantities of archival material. The Citizens for Vikelaia collected signatures from everywhere, to afford the entire building to the foundation and not allocated spaces for commercial use. The total effort directed online to distribute as much as possible the general problem plaguing many years Vikelaia. We will wait for the verdict of time.