Iakovatos Library & Museum in Lixouri

The public library and museum is housed in a neoclassical building erected in 1886 and bequeathed to the Greek state by the notable Typaldon-Iakovaton family of Lixouri in 1963. The core of the museum exhibit is comprised of the Typaldon-Iakovaton collection of antiquities, religious icons, furniture and family portraits. The growing library collection currently consists of approximately 30,000 books and magazines dating from the 16th century to the present, many of which are rare.

The Library is organized as follows:

a) Antiquarian Book Section
This section contains the collection of the Typaldos – Iakovatos family, with books on theology, literature, philosophy, history, medicine, law, dictionaries and encyclopedias. It also contains a number of rare editions from Venice and Leipzig as well as periodicals.

b) Lending Library
The lending section of the Iakovatos Library contains approximately 20,000 titles. Of particular interest are the library’s collection of children’s books, books on the Ionian Islands and the library’s audio-visual collection, which includes video cassettes and CD-ROM. The latter is under development and has recently been enriched by titles from the Public Information Centre.

c) Museum
The collection consists of heirlooms of the Typaldos-Iakovatos family, including period furniture, religious icons and bibles, family and other portraits of notable Kefalonians and a small archaeological collection.

d) Archive
This contains the archives of the Typaldos-Iakovatos family, one of the largest family archives in the Ionian Islands. The material (handwritten codices, official and private documents and letters) provides a wealth of information on the history of Kefalonia, the Ionian Islands, the Ionian Academy and the Theological school of Chalkis, of which Konstantinos Typaldos was the first headmaster.

e) Public Information Centre (funded by the Operational Programme “Information Society”) 
The Public Information Centre aims to provide visitors with information through the internet and has nine work stations, including one especially designed for people with special needs.

f) Mobile Library
A mobile library operates to visit the prefecture’s primary and secondary schools and lend educational books and audiovisual material to students and teachers.

g) Educational visits – activities
The Library and Museum are available for educational visits by schools and other bodies during normal opening hours, with the exception of national and local holidays. To arrange a group visit please call the Library at 26710 91325.

Contact Information
Address: Public Central Library, Typaldon-Iakovaton Museum of Lixouri, Aikaterinis Toul 1,
28200, Lixouri, Kefalonia
Tel.: 26710.91325, Fax.:26710.92676, e-mail:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Photographs: Gerasimos Galanos