Gerhard Stelzhammer’s sculpture garden is located in an old olive grove in Anidri and is a popular destination for art lovers. Stone sculptures such as “Purchased Beauty”, “Aphrodite”, “Reclining Melancholy” and many others stand among the 80 to 120-year-old olive trees. The tall olive trees form a light-flooded space in which the sculptures play shadow games with the sun. The sculpture garden invites visitors to linger, look and enjoy. Touching the sculptures is also permitted.
Since 2020, there has been a pavilion in the sculpture garden, which Gerhard built all by himself from old windows and beams from a beach tavern during the coronavirus pandemic. Many people see this space as a special place that seems like a temple to art and nature. Indoors and outdoors dissolve in this wooden pavilion, which consists almost entirely of windows. It is a mixture of an outdoor living room, an exhibition space and a greenhouse. Smaller stone sculptures as well as sculptures made of Cretan wood can be admired in this extraordinary space.
However, if you would like to meet the artist, you should book in advance by e-mail. Don’t let a closed gate stop you from visiting. This is only for goats who are not interested in art, but only in our trees and plants.
In 2012, Gerhard Stelzhammer opened his first sculpture garden in Kondoura, west of Paleochora, where he lived for the first few years. In 2017, the artist moved his sculptures to Anidri. One year later, in June 2018, he inaugurated the new sculpture garden in this beautiful olive grove in Anidri.
The sculpture garden is located 3 kilometres east of Paleochora in the direction of Anidri. The road splits after the campsite. To the right it leads to Anidri beach and up to the left the road leads to the small village of Anidri.
Just 1.5 km before the village of Anidri, you will find the sculpture garden on the right-hand side opposite Metacom, an ecological retreat centre.
Further up in the village is the Cafe Sto Scolio and the entrance to the Anidri Gorge.
