Perth Voice Interactive

MOUNT HAWTHORN’S iconic Castellorizian House has reopened following extensive preservation works. 

The Castellorisian Association of WA had work done to its Anzac Street home after getting a $247,500 grant from the WA Office of Multicultural Interests which helped reroof the entire Federation building, install solar panels, a battery and universal access ramps, and build a new community activities room that’ll be made available to other groups.

The not-for-profit association was set up by the Castellorizian diaspora to keep their identity, culture and history thriving.

Castellorizo (or Kastellorizo) is a small, hilly, rocky island about six kilometres long and three kilometres wide, and its isolation from mainland Greece helped it develop its own distinct culture of a proud seafaring people. 

As prosperity waned in the later 1800s many Castellorizions left. Perth was a particular hotspot, and a majority of WA’s early Greek residents were from the tiny island. 

Perth lord mayor Basil Zempilas is himself a descendent and was named Kastellorizian of the Year in 2018 and acknowledged for always proudly representing his island heritage.