The site of the St Eugene palace and later of an old French orphanage is these days rented by the plaster-cast man, Kemal Cımbız, and his son (see Cornucopia 23).

Cımbız learned the craft from the Turkish-Armenian plaster-caster, Garabet Cezayirliyan. When his master died in 1982, Cımbız inherited his workshop. A hundred years’ worth of casts and around 3,000 different moulds representing every period of architectural history – including stuccos, architraves, stalactites, friezes, reliefs, pilasters, capitals, consoles and cornices, many decorated with flowers, fruits, branches, shells and cornucopias – are on display.

The father and son prefer paying customers to browsers. Call for an appointment.