34. Mansion of P. Stalios – Hellenic Red Cross
Brief documentation:
The building was built during the first years of the 1880s by the tobacco merchant Panagiotis Stalios and was bought in 1928 by the tobacco industrialist Anargyros Sigalas. It is located at the beginning of Venizelou Street, which at that time was one of the main shopping streets of the city.
P. Stalios, born in 1812, was an important benefactor of the city, with rich social and cultural work. He built another mansion opposite 2 Venizelou Street, while he gave money for the construction of the current 1st Kindergarten of Xanthi in Mitropoleos Square. The same benefactor donated the original land where the cemetery of Xanthi stands today. An. Sigalas started as a tobacco worker and went on to become Prefect and Member of Parliament for the Rhodope Prefecture in 1936 with the Liberal Party of El. Venizelos.
During the Bulgarian occupation (1941-1944) the building was requisitioned and used as the seat of the administrative district established by the Bulgarian authorities in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace (Belo More Region). It has previously housed the Bank of Greece, the Psychological Center of Xanthi, while today the building houses the branch of the Hellenic Red Cross.
The Stalios mansion is a two-storey, majestic building in Renaissance style, which is a typical example of the architectural trends formed in the area during the last two decades of the 19th century. The building has an arched entrance that leads to a spacious hall, around which the rooms of the house develop in a symmetrical arrangement. The façade of the building is decorated with corbels, which are located both under the balconies of the first floor and in the coronation of the masonry.
It is a perfectly symmetrical two-storey construction with a semi-basement. Internally, the spaces are organized around central halls.
The building is similar to the Stalios Kindergarten, which seems to have been built at the same time. This kindergarten was allegedly built by an Italian architect.
Category of thematic interest: ARCHITECTURAL / HISTORICAL INTEREST
History:
he building was built during the first years of the 1880s by the tobacco merchant Panagiotis Stalios and was bought in 1928 by the tobacco industrialist Anargyros Sigalas. It is located at the beginning of Venizelou Street, which at that time was one of the main shopping streets of the city.
P. Stalios, born in 1812, was an important benefactor of the city, with rich social and cultural work. He built another mansion opposite 2 Venizelou Street, while he gave money for the construction in 1881 of a kindergarten (today's 1st Kindergarten of Xanthi) in Mitropoleos Square, behind the Matsinios school, i.e. today's 1st Primary School of Xanthi. The same benefactor donated the original land where the cemetery of Xanthi stands today. The Hon. Sigalas started as a tobacco worker and became Prefect and Member of Parliament for the Rhodope Prefecture in 1936 with the Liberal Party of Venizelos.
During the Bulgarian occupation (1941-1944) the building was requisitioned and used as the seat of the administrative district established by the Bulgarian authorities in the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace (Belo More Region). It has housed in the past the Bank of Greece, the Psychological Center of Xanthi, while in recent years the building houses the local branch of the Hellenic Red Cross.
Elements of architecture:
The Stalios mansion is a two-storey, majestic mansion in Renaissance styles, which is a typical example of the architectural trends formed in the area during the last two decades of the 19th century. The building has an arched entrance that leads to a spacious hall, around which the rooms of the house develop in a symmetrical arrangement. The façade of the building is decorated with corbels, which are located both under the balconies of the first floor and in the coronation of the masonry.
It is a perfectly symmetrical two-storey construction with a semi-basement. Internally, the spaces are organized around central halls.
Description of other elements:
The building is similar to the Stalios Kindergarten, which seems to have been built at the same time. This kindergarten was allegedly built by an Italian architect.
Purpose - Use: Residence, Cultural space
Characterization: Preservable, Institution of the Ministry of Culture, Decision DILAP/C/3/3790, Government Gazette 61/95
Dating (period): Early 1880s
Year of construction: Early 1880s
Location of the monument: 41.14114971966723, 24.887081435306754
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
• Katsari-Vafiadis, J. Ed. 2023. "History and recording of the neoclassical buildings of the traditional settlement". Xanthi: Municipality of Xanthi, p. 145
Address: Eleftheriou Venizelou 5
Visitable: No
Construction Manager: Probably an Italian architect