The transformation of the historic Schliemann-Melas Mansion in central Athens is shaping up to be an exercise in squaring the circle – and the project has not even broken ground yet. The Mitsis Hotels group, which is developing the property under a long-term lease, recently presented a preliminary renovation plan to Greece’s Central Council of Modern Monuments.
The council is a key advisory body under the Ministry of Culture responsible for protecting, preserving, and managing cultural heritage dating from 1830 onward. The plan is essentially a series of compromises shaped by a 2023 government ruling requiring the building’s century-old cinema, the Ideal, to retain its cultural function even as the mansion is converted into a luxury hotel.
The proposal calls for the demolition of the cinema’s original prewar structure – long considered a safety risk – and its replacement, at a lower level, with two smaller, flexible halls that could host film screenings, theater performances or conferences. In practice, this would mark the end of the Ideal as a traditional first-run cinema.
Some elements would, however, be preserved. The cinema’s original entrance, through an elegant arched arcade on Panepistimiou Street, would remain and serve as the main gateway to a new interior courtyard connecting the building to the surrounding street life. The hotel’s restaurant would occupy the ground floor, a rooftop garden would sit above the new cinema spaces, and an international entertainment company would be brought in to equip the cultural venue with state-of-the-art sound and projection systems.
