The mayor of Tarpon Springs of Florida, USA, Chrysostomos Alachouzos paid a visit to the Historic Cafe “Kipos” in Chania on Wednesday 22 September 2021.
Mr. Alachouzos had previously officially visited the Town Hall of Chania, following the completion of the first phase of the twinning between the two Municipalities. He held talks with the Mayor, Panagiotis Simandirakis and subsequently, accompanied by the Mayor, the Secretary-General of the Municipality of Chania, Georgios Fragiadakis and Vice Mayor Tassos Aloglou, he visited the Historic Cafe “Kipos” where he was guided by the business owner and President of the Cultural Route “Historic Cafes Route”, Vasilis Stathakis.
Mr. Stathakis welcomed the “Mayor of small Greece”, as he typically called him and explained to Mr. Alachouzos the importance of the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the Historic Cafe “Kipos”, which was also the occasion for the creation of the Cultural Route “Historic Cafes Route”. He also briefed him on the organization of the 11th International Advisory Forum “Cultural Routes” by the Council of Europe and the close cooperation, since 2014, between the “Historic Cafes Route” with the Council of Europe and its representatives. Mr. Alachouzos was impressed by the site and by the actions and initiatives by the “Historic Cafes Route”; He mentioned that the Historic Cafe “Kipos” is “a highly refined Museum, a rare cultural area”. During the visit, Mr. Stathakis offered Mr. Alachouzos, a hand-crafted crest of the “Historic Cafes Route”.
During the meeting, Mr. Alachouzos enjoyed traditional delicacies discussing with Mr. Stathakis for future projects and actions. Moreover, the mayor of Tarpon Springs called on the Mayor of Chania, as well as the President of the “Historic Cafes Route”, to build cultural synergies based on sustainable development and the tourism industry.
It is worth noting that Mr. Alachouzos traveled to Chania on the occasion of the twinning between the municipalities of Tarpon Springs and Chania. The Historic Cafe “Kipos” had been previously visited by the Archbishop of America Elpidoforos, on 5 September 2021, as well as by the President of the Pancretian Association of America, Iakovos Boutzuka, on 26 August 2021