As with all family businesses that go back a generation or more, every next generation finds itself having to respond to the challenge and the responsibility passed on.
Personally, I feel responsible to stand up to the achievements, the creativity, the entrepreneurial spirit and the resilience my great-grandparents, grandparents, my father and aunt have shown through out these years.
I hope you’ll enjoy this brief timeline below of our family business.
1950’s – Great-grandfather, Markos
The plate reads: “Artistic workshop for church furnishings, Markos Bolaris, Serres” (Hand carved wood pieces)
Markos’ hand-drawing
Markos standing by a hand-carved wooden altarpiece
Markos created a wood workshop employing many workers in the 1950’s, located in Serres, Greece ( Google maps: https://goo.gl/maps/PsavJ7p3cpVLT7bd9 ).
The main object of the workshop was hand-carved wooden furnishings that had a high level of difficulty and detail. He would design the pieces as well as bring them to life.
1960’s, 1970’s – Grandfather Ioannis (John)
Hand carved marble for church interior
Ioannis learned the craft of wood carving from his father Markos, continuing the family tradition.
He moved to Thessaloniki (Google maps: https://goo.gl/maps/zYM4CZu48H4rg6kk9 ) where he took on marble as his material of choice.
Ornamented furnishings for churches as well as monuments were at the center of the business.
1980’s – My father and aunt, Markos and Chrysoula
Chrysoula on the right, at a marble fair
Markos working on a hand-crafted monument out of a single block of marble
Markos on the left, Ioannis in the middle standing by a hand crafted marble fireplace
All this knowledge, craftsmanship and inventive way of thinking passed on to my father, Markos, and my aunt, Chrysoula.
In 1979 they established “Kallimarmaron” company which got its name from the famous stadium in Athens (Kallimarmaron stadium: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panathenaic_Stadium ). The word consists of two words in greek, “Kallos” which means beauty and “Marmaron” which means marble.
The main items produced were hand crafted works of art like carved marble fireplaces and similar such works, meticulously carved by hand slowly and painstakingly. At the same time, the company continued to develop and turned to the importation of new materials for the expanding construction sector.
Today
Today, “Kallimarmaron” company operates from its new own factory facilities on 32.000m² of land in Lakkoma, Chalkidiki (Google maps: https://g.page/kallimarmaron-bolari?share ); equipped with a state-of-the-art line of manufacturing machines which enables the processing from raw stone block to the most delicate piece of art. The yard is being stocked with raw materials from Greece and all over the world.
In 2008 “Kallimarmaron” expanded into the extraction of raw materials with the opening of two quarries in the Lakkoma area of Chalkidiki, where a warm colored limestone, widely known as Petra Lakkomatos or as we call it, Terra Coral, is excavated for further processing and commercial use. (https://www.kallimarmaro.gr/proionta-terra-coral/)
You can discover more pictures of the family’s archive at our website: https://www.kallimarmaro.gr/poioi-eimaste/