When he was twelve years old, Mr. Stelios asked his parents to buy him a Cretan lyre, but they did not do so for fear of leaving the letters. So he became a soldier and when he was 22 years old he bought his first lyre and with great difficulty began to learn. Then at the age of 33 he started to get more involved and make lyres until in 2000 he created the Cretan lyre making workshop in Chania, Crete.

To make a professional lyre, it takes more than sixty hours on the chisel, Mr. Stelios tells us. To make a lyre, we use three types of wood, in the three different main parts that make up the instrument. The main point of construction in a lyre I think is to make a good speaker. Mulberry wood, walnut, aspen, pear, rosewood are usually used. Every wood has its own secret. Walnut makes a sweeter sound, mulberry more sour.

The construction of a musical instrument is a complex process that must be followed with the delicacy of a surgeon and the reverence of a hagiographer.