CH. KAMAROS & Co
Handmade Carved Wooden Furniture
Custom-made furniture to meet your personal taste

In Agiassos, in the island of Lesvos, a small mountain village built at an altitude of 600 meters amidst lush forests, a direct reference to the villagers’ rich intellectual interests, the craft of woodcarving was developed and flourished at the beginning of the 18th century.
The direct influences from Byzantine Art and the Hellenism of Minor Asia elevate this craft to a distinguished style of the era that caused a sensation in the island and was also very popular with its commercial affiliates.
During the interim war years, the last of the old woodcrafters disappear; the poor financial state of the country did not encourage demand of such products.

In 1949, Dimitris Kamaros, the grandson of a woodcarver and the son of a logger, sets up his own little workshop and starts making furniture that encompass traditional Greek woodcuts’ designs; at the same time he starts developing his own special technique and style.

His reputation goes beyond the tight borders of his island and his furniture creations travel across Greece and abroad, all around the world.
In the years to come, aided by two apprentices of his, the little venture of Dimitris Kamaros starts expanding its activities and gets equipped with state of the art machinery.
The ultimate goal is to improve the quality of the furniture made and to ensure the timeless value of handmade pieces.

His son, Charalambos Kamaros – already from his early student years – takes an interest in his fathers craft and helps him out in his spare time. After completing his academic studies, he dedicates himself to it.
In recent years, the founder of the wood workshop retires, and his son takes his place.

Business activity flourishes. The workshop makes Greek traditional furniture for home use such as chests, console tables, mirrors, sitting-room suites, dinner tables, bedroom suites etc.; furniture for office use such as desks, bookcases etc.; smaller objects such as jewellery boxes, backgammon tables, clocks etc.; furniture for conference rooms such as conference tables; and finally, ecclesiastical woodcuts such as icon screens (templa), bishop’s thrones, icon-stands (proskynetaria), absorbing candle holders, candle stands, chanters' pews etc.
The wood most commonly used is walnut, which is traditionally processed on site, and then is artificially dried in a drier owned by the company.

There are plenty of designs for each item, usually inspired from old traditional furniture of Lesvos. The furniture can be custom-made to meet clients’ particular requirements; therefore, they are made to order. It is of great importance to respect the particular characters of old locations, especially when it comes to Greek Orthodox churches. New and old elements should be combined in harmony and as a natural progression of one another.Having the knowledge of the old, the will to promote quality, the boldness to use new technologies, good taste and ambition to make our products timeless, we invite you to see some of our work presented in this web page.

Quite a few newspapers have published extensive articles on him and his work (NEA, 27/8/2002), as well as magazines (Ideas and Solutions for Home, July 1995).
He is also mentioned in Universities web pages, such as that of the research programme “Aegean Arc” www.aegean.gr/culturelab/wood_carvers_gr.htm as well as in many local brochures and other web pages www.lesvosonlinne.gr/lesvos_gr/map/places/agiasos/agias5.htm.

KAMAROS CH. & Co
Agiassos, Lesvos, GREECE TK-81101
Tel: +30-22520-22213
Fax: +30-22520-22213
Web address: kamaros.e-lesvos.net
E-MAIL for general enquiries: kamaros@aias.gr