Greece’s Preveza Gets Seaside Opera House Made of Empty Cans

It took 85-year-old artist Leandros Spartiotis three years to collect over 30,000 recyclable cans to create one of the most impressive opera houses in the country on the shores of Preveza, northwestern Greece.

Leandros Spartiotis. Photo source: prevezaposto.gr

Measuring 30 meters long and eight meters high, the 200m2 “Opera of Water and Dreams” is a fully-fledged opera venue made only from recycled cans and staging its first event — a performance by National Opera artists — last month.

The opera stage is located on Pefkakia Beach in Preveza, next to a Venetian bastion, with the colorful cans reflecting in the water and creating spectacular lighting effects.

The owner of one of Greece’s largest private art galleries, Mr Spartiotis is an active artist, woodworker, photographer and designer.

Leandros Spartiotis. Photo by Haralambos Gouvas.

“The priority was to send out a message about recycling and then demonstrate that we can continue to create art at a low cost in difficult times, responding in this way to the fact that spending a lot of money does not necessarily always lead to beautiful things, examples of which there are many in our town,” Spartiotis told The TOC site.

The “Opera of Water and Dreams” will host a series of events which are all free of charge.