Architectural tour in Old Xanthi (80')
This route is about 3 km, about 80 minutes and of moderate difficulty. It covers almost the entire area of Old Xanthi, starting from the west and the mansion of Muzafer Bey and ending at the district of Ydragogeiou Street in the north.

Through it and the more than 50 buildings it includes, the visitor will get to know extensively the architecture of Old Xanthi. Walking through its alleys you will observe the morphological features of the mansions and houses, the shops, the schools, the churches and the metropolitan mansion, the inns, community buildings, the mosques, 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, as expressed in the various buildings of the old town.

03. Stalios Kindergarten – 1st Kindergarten of Xanthi

Brief documentation:

The 1st Kindergarten of Xanthi was built in 1881, thanks to the donation of the city's benefactor, the important tobacco merchant Panagiotis Stalios and his wife Fotini. Their names are also engraved on the marble dedicatory inscription above the entrance gate. The building originally functioned as a Kindergarten of the Greek Orthodox Community while it was under Ottoman administration, and as a Kindergarten it operates until today.

The building is in the Mitropoleos district, in an area that formed the core of the Greek Orthodox Community of Xanthi during the 19th century. Several important institutions were gathered there, such as the Metropolis, the Metropolitan Mansion, the Greek Consulate and the community schools (Matsinios Urban School, Girls' School).

The kindergarten is built in the neo-renaissance style, probably designed by an Italian architect. The entrance of the courtyard includes fake pillars made of local granite. The exterior of the building is simply formed.

Around the windows located on the central and side facades of the building there are frames of local sandstone, while those on the ground floor are covered with elaborate ironwork. The building is decorated with corbels, which can be found both at the coronation of the entrance of the courtyard and at the coronation of the masonry.


Category of thematic interest:  ARCHITECTURAL / HISTORICAL INTEREST


History:

It was built in 1881 with a donation by the tobacco merchant Panagiotis Stalios and his wife Fotini, as shown in the marble dedicatory inscription above the entrance gate. It is in the district of Mitropoleos, in the area, which was the core of the Greek Orthodox Community of the city in the 19th century, as a number of its important institutions were concentrated there, such as the Metropolis, the Metropolitan Mansion, the Greek Consulate and the community schools (Matsinios Urban School, Girls' School).


Elements of architecture:

The kindergarten is built in the neo-renaissance style, probably designed by an Italian architect. The entrance of the courtyard includes false pillars made of local granite. The exterior of the building is simply formed. Around the windows located on the central and side facades of the building there are frames of local sandstone, while those on the ground floor are covered with elaborate ironwork.


Description of other elements:

The building is decorated with corbels, which can be found both at the coronation of the entrance of the courtyard and at the coronation of the masonry.


Purpose - Use: School building


Characterization: Preserved, Institution of the Ministry of Culture, Decision DILAP/C/11/63051, Government Gazette 73/86


Dating (period): Last quarter of the 19th century


Year of construction: 1881


Monument location: 41.14468986852862, 24.886915068523884


Bibliographic references:

•    Dimitris Mavridis, Houses of Xanthi, Holy Metropolis of Xanthi and Peritheoriou – DEAX, Xanthi 2009
•    Dimitris Mavridis, Angelophylaktos Xanthi, Holy Metropolis of Xanthi and Peritheoriou, Xanthi 2007
•    "Benefactor of Xanthi", Thrakika, 3 (1932), pp. 391 – 392


 Address: Michael Matsini 1


Visitable: No


Construction Manager: Probably an Italian architect

 

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