Architectural tour in Old Xanthi (50')
The route is about 1 km, about 50 minutes and of low difficulty. The visitor has the opportunity to get a small taste of the architectural trends, as expressed in Old Xanthi, but also of the morphological characteristics that each building had depending on its function.

Thus, walking through the alleys of old Xanthi, one will observe the way in which the mansions and houses, the shops, the schools, the churches and the metropolitan mansion, the inns, buildings of community character, are built, as well as the way in which all these are integrated into the urban fabric of the city. At the same time, he will be initiated into the architectural trends of neoclassicism, eclecticism and traditional architecture that coexist harmoniously in Old Xanthi.

25. Moses Mansion

Brief documentation:

The building was erected near the end of the 19th century, probably in 1880. It was built or bought by the Jewish tobacco merchant Aaron Moses. Then it passed into the ownership of the tobacco merchant Vasilios Mouratis (from Constantinople, with the famous Muratti cigarettes that exist until today) and then the tobacco merchant Ioannis Orfanidis. In 1926 the heirs of the latter sold the mansion to the Municipality of Xanthi. From that year until 2013 this building housed the Town Hall of the city, before it was moved to the central square of Xanthi. The building has now been renovated and is used as a cultural space of the Municipality.
It is an imposing two-storey mansion of bourgeois character. The architectural style of the building is eclectic with neoclassical elements and influences from the Romanesque standards of Western Europe. The mansion is lined with local stone, granite and sandstone from the area of Mandra. The façade of the building is organized with symmetry, while the building ends in a cross-shaped tiled roof. The doors in the arched entrances of the building are made of iron and have decorative elements, while the windows of the first floor above the main entrance include elaborate ironwork. After the main entrance there is a double, two-sided staircase, which leads to a large hall on the first floor of the building, around which the rooms are arranged in a symmetrical way.
Throughout the building and especially on the first floor there is extensive painting decoration with frescoes, ceiling paintings, Ionic waves made of plaster and false pillars with false capitals.


Category of thematic interest:  ARCHITECTURAL / HISTORICAL INTEREST


History:

The building was erected near the end of the 19th century, probably in 1880. It was built or bought by the Jewish tobacco merchant Aaron Moses. Then it passed into the ownership of the tobacco merchant Vasilios Mouratis (from Constantinople, with the famous Muratti cigarettes that exist until today) and then the tobacco merchant Ioannis Orfanidis. In 1926 the heirs of the latter sold the mansion to the Municipality of Xanthi. From that year until 2013 this building housed the Town Hall of the city, before it was moved to the central square of Xanthi. The building has now been renovated and is used as a cultural space of the Municipality.


Elements of architecture:

It is an imposing two-storey mansion Architecture of bourgeois character. The architectural style of the building is eclectic with neoclassical elements and influences from the Romanesque standards of Western Europe. The mansion is lined with local stone, granite and sandstone from the area of Mandra. The façade of the building is organized with symmetry, while the building ends in a cross-shaped roof with a tiled roof. The doors in the arched entrances of the building are made of iron and have decorative elements, while the windows of the first floor above the main entrance include elaborate ironwork. After the main entrance there is a double, two-sided staircase, which leads to a large hall on the first floor of the building, around which the rooms are arranged in a symmetrical way.


Description of other elements:

Throughout the building and especially on the first floor there is extensive painting decoration with frescoes, ceiling paintings, Ionic waves made of plaster and false pillars with false capitals.


Purpose - Use: Residence, Administrative building, Cultural site


Characterization: Preservable, Institution of the Ministry of Culture, Decision DILAP/C/1895/30606, Government Gazette 483/87


Dating (period): Late 19th century


Year of construction: Circa 1880


Location of the monument: 41.142710306260916, 24.887570345536513


Bibliographic references:

•    Dimitris Mavridis, Houses of Xanthi, Holy Metropolis of Xanthi and Peritheoriou – DEAX, Xanthi 2009
•    Thomas Exarchou, Islets Polis Xanthi 2, P.A.KE.THRA., Xanthi 2003
•    Katsari-Vafiadis, J. Ed. 2023. "History and recording of the neoclassical buildings of the traditional settlement". Xanthi: Municipality of Xanthi, p. 75


 Address: Mavromichali 8 and Filippou Amiridi


Visitable: No

 

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