Palataki, Neoclassical mansion in Kalamaria, Greece

Palataki is a large neoclassical mansion in Karabournaki, Kalamaria, about 8 km south of Thessaloniki. Its front facade has a two-level Ionic colonnade and a large marble courtyard, with a matching colonnade at the rear. The two main floors cover 1,200 square metres: reception rooms on the ground floor, two suites and staff areas above, kitchens and storage in the basement. The 15-acre grounds include a main gate with guard booths, a chapel, a helipad and a dock on the Thermaic Gulf.

The Palataki was built in the 1950s by the Ministry of Public Works on land donated by the Ministry of National Defence, and inaugurated in 1960 as the residence of the Minister for Northern Greece. In 1963 it passed to the Greek Royal Family, who spent a single night there, preferring the Méditerranée Hotel. Returned to the ministry in 1968, it housed ministers until 2006, when Georgios Kalantzis closed it for renovations that never began.

The name Palataki, "little palace", is popular rather than official; the building is formally the Government House. From 1968 to 2006 the incumbent Minister for Northern Greece, later Macedonia-Thrace, hosted the annual reception for the opening of the Thessaloniki International Fair here. In 1997 the mansion held a major exhibition of works by Caravaggio for Thessaloniki's year as European Capital of Culture.

The mansion stands on 15 acres about 8 km south of Thessaloniki's centre, with a main gate, guard booths, a chapel, a helipad and access to a sea dock. The building has been closed since 2006 and no renovation has begun, so it cannot be entered; the guarded grounds and courtyard are used periodically for concerts and exhibitions.

Prime Minister and later President Konstantinos Karamanlis made regular use of the residence during official trips to the region. His frequent stays marked it as an important setting in modern Greek political history.