+30 28310 30831
Cretan Lyra Stagakis Manolis

Lyra - construction

Loyally following Cretan Lyra tradition, our instruments are 100% handmade. The wood is very carefully chosen in order to be perfect and flawless.
cretan lyra

The rear part of the Lyra (skafos) is made of wood, which is at least 10 years old and most often Walnut tree, Mournia, Austrian Kelembeki and Asfendamos are used.

The front part (kapaki) is the most important part of the organ, since it is responsible for sound quality and fidelity, that why it is made of Katrani. Katrani is a kind of wood that is at least 300 years old and nowadays it can be found exclusively at houses in the old town of Rethymno where it was used as skid or supporting beam.

Even the glue and the varnish are handmade, which is very important.The glue is made of fish squama and it is called “psarokolla”, while the varnish is made of a material called “Gomalaka”. Both are produced in our workshop in order to achieve the best sound quality and aesthetic effect.

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It must be made clear that the wood used at the rear part (skafos) of the Lyra does not affect the quality of the organ and the choice between various woods is only a matter of taste and aesthetics.

Each Lyra takes about a week (7-8 days) to be made.It is tailor made and configured in order to meet the requirements (sound tone and pitch) of each individual Lyra artist (Lyraris).Stagakis Cretan Lyra workshop builds and ships Lyras all over the world. We have customers from all over Greece, Europe, Australia, Canada, South Africa and USA. Our customers are professionals, amateur artists and beginners.

That is why we are trying to meet each individual person’s requirements & needs

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