10Apotheke: A Sanctuary of Scent, Memory, and Earth

From handcrafted incense to Saturday food rituals, a Cretan-rooted project reinvents the way we gather

In an old industrial building in the heart of Athens—free of internal columns and with exposed beams like the skeleton of a memory—one of the city’s most quietly powerful cultural projects was born: “The Apotheke.” It is not a store, not a studio, not a gallery. And yet, it is all of these at once. A living experience, a pilgrimage to matter that holds soul.

The founder of 10Apotheke, Eva Papadaki with a background in business and fashion, wasn’t simply looking for a workspace. She discovered a space of deep resonance. A building that chose her as much as she chose it. From a second-floor studio, a whole universe began to take shape—photo studios, production spaces, hosting, events, and creative action. And eventually: a storage of words, sensations, memories. “I didn’t want it to be a shop. I wanted it to be something sacred. Something you visit like you go to church – with respect and an open heart.”

From Crete with Love—and Dittany

CCrete is not just her origin. It is the material, the rhythm, and the spirit that shape the entire project. Everything about the Apotheke is steeped in the Cretan way of life—from its philosophy to its raw materials. The soaps, the wild herbs, the healing balms, the incense—they are all lovingly sourced from small-scale producers across the island, echoing the slowness, the authenticity, and the rootedness of another time. These aren’t simply products; they are vessels of memory. “My whole life, my whole root, is Crete. Everything I use here carries that memory, that way of life.”

The Apotheke is built upon a unique glossary—a collection of Greek and English words and emotions that inspire creation. “Each product is like it was born from a tangle of words. I want people to touch it, to take it with them. To experience it.” This is not just branding—it’s language as material, and material as memory. The Apotheke becomes a narrative you can hold in your hands, carry with you, and slowly unfold.

The Saturday Experience: Coffee, Hilopites, and Incense

The Apotheke is not just a place you can visit—it is open only on Saturdays. Not to generate exclusivity, but to preserve a sense of ritual and rhythm. Saturdays become a gentle ceremony, inviting visitors to pause, reflect, and reconnect—with themselves, with others, and with the space around them. There is no fixed program, no pressure to consume—just presence. Visitors can drink coffee, taste herbal blends, sample products, enjoy fresh bread and hilopites (traditional Greek pasta), watch a 40-minute film installation, engage in quiet conversation, or simply sit and take it all in. “I wanted people to live it. Not just walk in, buy something, and leave. Like when you go somewhere once a week to reconnect – that’s what I envisioned here.”

Every Saturday, guest chefs from Greece and abroad are invited to interpret the edible elements of the Apotheke in their own unique way. These ephemeral collaborations result in limited menus built from olive oil, salt, honey, herbal infusions, and sometimes unexpected ingredients—like tights (!). The outcome is not just food, but a narrative of flavor, rooted in place and memory. What emerges is a kind of micro-community—one that knows it will disband by evening but values the fleeting beauty of gathering. Each Saturday is an offering, a small ritual of hospitality where the boundary between host and guest dissolves.”We had an Italian chef from Copenhagen with three bakeries. Two days of events, and people kept coming back. Like they didn’t want the moment to end.”

Among all products, one stands out for its emotional gravity: incense. For the founder, incense is linked to loss, to her father, and more deeply, to the transformation of pain into presence. “Incense used to scare me. It always smelled like death. But when I lost my father, I realized it was the only way to connect with him. A channel. A ritual to reconnect with the unseen.”

The Apotheke’s incense contains no added scents. It is handmade by monks from Mount Athos, stripped of the heavy aroma of church ritual. It is a gesture of connection, not worship.

The brand has already traveled: to Berlin, Oslo, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens. Yet its heart remains in the physical space. New product lines are being developed for boutique hotels—shampoo, toothpaste, mouthwash, lotion—while the philosophy remains unchanged: nothing is created without emotional and intentional depth. “I never cared about just selling. I wanted to make something that speaks to our roots, our philosophy. In a contemporary way. Not touristy. Not a gimmick.”

One of the most distinctive symbols in the Apotheke is a series of ceramic Minotaurs—artworks for sale by ceramist Manousos. The idea was inspired by the myth of the Minoan labyrinth which—unlike other labyrinths—has no exit. All paths lead to the center. “At the center of the labyrinth is the Minotaur. Your strength. There’s no way out. You must stand there. That’s where the coin is. That’s the root.”

A Vision That Travels with Soul

The Apotheke wasn’t born from a business need. It came from something deeper: a desire to create a space of truth, of memory, of connection. A space that doesn’t shout—but is still heard. “What happens here is something people feel with me. I don’t care about being seen. I care that this connection is passed on. That’s the greatest reward.”

“Our memories are what we’ve felt. Scents, sounds, textures, landscapes, words, lived experiences—all of them together make up our personal apotheke. That’s exactly what 10AM apotheke expresses. My own memories begin and remain in Crete—that’s where I was born and where I will always return. They carry the scent of my grandmother’s handmade soaps, made with herbs from our garden, the taste of our olive oil, the sweetness of thyme honey, the warmth of home-baked bread.

These are also the core products of the Apotheke: honey, salt, olive oil, bread, tea, soaps, candles, incense. Everything I found in the house I grew up in—a liberating simplicity. A simplicity I consciously chose to reconnect with. To advocate for a return to a simpler way of life. To honor small, independent producers, real people and hands that continue to create in harmony with sustainability and nature.

That is exactly why our product quantities will never be guaranteed. They will remain in complete harmony with the production process and the rhythms of nature. A nature that is neither infinite nor given. The more we care for it, the more it gives, the more we have.“- Eva Papadaki