Religious monuments of Old Xanthi
This route is about 2.3 km, about 70 minutes and of moderate difficulty. The visitor will have the opportunity to tour religious monuments of old Xanthi. From the Sunne mosque to the chapel of Agioi Theodoroi you will find a reasonable number of Christian churches and chapels, mosques and the Catholic church that testify to the religious identity of the inhabitants and at the same time highlight the multicultural and multireligious character that the city of Xanthi had and still has today.

Their position in the urban fabric of the city highlights the importance of their character (with the layout of secular buildings around them), the need of residents for religious expression and their timeless peaceful coexistence. Of interest are both their architectural configuration and their interior decoration with icons, frescoes, wood carvings on the iconostasis in Christian churches and tiles with floral decoration in the mihrab of the mosques.

48. Akathist Hymn Temple

Brief documentation:

The construction of the church of the Akathist Hymn in old Xanthi is documented by two built-in inscriptions, one on the southwest side (the date 1860 is written) and the second on the west wall (the date 1861 is written).
The temple was built at a time of changes and developments for the city, i.e. in the second half of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. The administrative center of the region was transferred from Genisea to Xanthi and tobacco production and trade began to increase.
It is located in the homonymous district of Akathist Hymn, near the main street of the old town with the former name Uzun Sokak (Long Road), today's Pygmalionos Christidis street.
In the area around the temple important families of tobacco merchants and benefactors of the city lived (Chasirtzoglou, Topouzi, Lada, etc.). It is the only parish church in Greece dedicated to the Akathist Hymn and not to a saint or celebration.
The church is built in the style of a simple three-aisled basilica, with a wooden narthex on the west side and a semicircular apse on the east. Inside, the church is divided into 3 aisles with 2 colonnades of wooden columns bearing plaster.
The roof is wooden, while above the arches of the colonnades there are two rows of 6 medals with depictions of the 12 Apostles. There is also a women's loft in the form of a balcony and in the shape of a "Π".
The bell tower of the church is not attached to it, but is located near its northwest corner. Above the entrance of the courtyard there is the reception area of the church.
Many benefactors dedicated icons to the church, such as Athanasios Kopanos, the church's commissioners Moschos Chatzistergiou and Alexios Ioannidis, while the guild of shoemakers dedicated the icon of the Holy Trinity to the church on May 8, 1870.


Category of thematic interest:  ARCHITECTURAL/HISTORICAL AND RELIGIOUS INTEREST


History:

The construction of the church of the Akathist Hymn in old Xanthi is documented by two built-in inscriptions, one on the southwest side (the date 1860 is written) and the second on the west wall (the year 1861 is written). The reconstruction began under Metropolitan Panaretos (1858 – 1861). It was built at a time of changes and developments for the city, i.e. in the second half of the 19th and early 20th century. The administrative center of the region was transferred from Genisea to Xanthi and tobacco production and trade began to increase.

It is located in the homonymous district of Akathist Hymn, near the main street of the old town with the former name Uzun Sokak (Long Road), today's Pygmalionos Christidis.
In the area around the temple important families of tobacco merchants and benefactors of the city lived (Chasirtzoglou, Topouzi, Lada, etc.). It is the only parish church in Greece dedicated to the Akathist Hymn and not to a saint or celebration.


Elements of architecture:

The church is built in the style of a simple three-aisled basilica, with a wooden narthex on the west side and a semicircular apse on the east. Inside, the church is divided into 3 aisles with 2 colonnades of wooden columns bearing plaster.
The roof is wooden, while above the arches of the colonnades there are two rows of 6 medals with depictions of the 12 Apostles. There is also a women's loft in the form of a balcony and in the shape of a "Π".
The bell tower of the church is not attached to it, but is located near its northwest corner. Above the entrance of the courtyard there is the reception area of the church.


Description of other elements:

Many benefactors dedicated icons to the church, such as Athanasios Kopanos, the church's commissioners Moschos Chatzistergiou and Alexios Ioannidis, while the guild of shoemakers dedicated the icon of the Holy Trinity to the church on May 8, 1870.


Purpose - Use: Church building


Characterization: Preservable, Institution of the Ministry of Culture, Decision DILAP/C/2934/46357, Government Gazette 165/87


Dating (period): Second half of the 19th century


Year of construction: 1860-1861


Location of the monument: 41.14480843381085, 24.885711219387787


Bibliographic references:

•    Tsigaras, G. Chr., Churches of the Holy Metropolis of Xanthi and Peritheoriou, Xanthi 2004.
•    Tsigaras, G., "The Churches of Xanthi" in Xanthi. The City of a Thousand Colors, 94–99. Xanthi, Municipality of Xanthi – PAKETHRA, 2008.
•    Tsigaras, G. Chr., The churches of Old Xanthi, Xanthi 2008.


 Address: Vyronos 16


Visitable: Yes

 

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