Benefactors of the Greek Orthodox community of Xanthi

This route is about 2 km, about 60 minutes and of moderate difficulty. In it, the visitor will be able to tour buildings of architectural or religious interest at the same time, which were either built thanks to the donation of a benefactor from Xanthi, or are related to the residence or shop of the benefactor's family.

The role of benefactors was particularly important for the Greek Orthodox Christian populations during the Ottoman period, since they took care of the construction and decoration of schools, churches and buildings of public character (e.g. clubs) and thus contributed to the preservation of the ethnic and religious identity of the community.

The visitor starts from the chapel of Zoodochos Pigi on Lefkou Pyrgou Street and ends at the chapel of Agia Paraskevi in the heart of the old town. Along the way he will learn about the tobacco benefactors An. Sigalas, P. Stalios, M. Matsinis, the Kougioumtzoglou family, the teacher D. Chasirtzoglou, M. Floris etc. He will also "meet" the metropolitans of Xanthi and Peritheoriou Eugenios, under whose guidance and encouragement the churches of the old town were rebuilt and decorated after the catastrophic earthquake of 1829, and Ioakeim Sgouros, who rebuilt the Metropolitan Mansion and part of the monasteries.

Important were also the donations of professional guilds to the churches, such as the shoemakers' and the cobblers’ unions, which donated to the church of Akathist Hymn the icon of the Holy Trinity, or of Epirotan G. Kagialidis, who dedicated to the Metropolitan Church the icon of St. George of Ioannina, or of the Velios family, who donated several icons to Kavaki.

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65. Chapel of Zoodochos Pigi

Brief documentation:

The chapel, located on the Lefkou Pyrgou street, was built, as evidenced by the marble inscription, in 1934 by the tobacco industrialist Anargyros Sigalas, in memory of his mother Margarita. He planted about 1200 pine and cypress trees in the surrounding area. In the courtyard there is a column for his mother, who was born in 1855 and died in 1931, originally from Santorini.
Anargyros Sigalas started as a tobacco worker and became Prefect and Member of Parliament for the Rhodope Prefecture in 1936 with the Liberal Party of El. Venizelou. He is related to a mansion on Eleftheriou Venizelou Street that he bought from the Stalios family and to this chapel of Zoodochos Pigi that he built on Lefkou Pyrgou Street.
It is a small one-aisled chapel built within a large free space. The bell tower is embedded in the roof of the chapel, above its entrance to the west and has neoclassical features. Above the entrance door, a stepped cornice is formed, which is interrupted by the marble dedicatory inscription.
A second chapel dedicated to Zoodochos Pigi is located on Pindarou Street in the old Xanthi.

Category of thematic interest: ARCHITECTURAL/HISTORICAL AND RELIGIOUS INTEREST

History:

The chapel, located on the White Tower, was built, as evidenced by the marble inscription, in 1934 by the tobacco industrialist Anargyros Sigalas, in memory of his mother Margarita. He planted about 1200 pine and cypress trees in the surrounding area. In the courtyard there is a column for his mother, who was born in 1855 and died in 1931, originally from Santorini.
Anargyros Sigalas started as a tobacco worker and became Prefect and Member of Parliament for the Rhodope Prefecture in 1936 with the Liberal Party of El. Venizelou. He is related to a mansion on Eleftheriou Venizelou Street that he bought from the Stalios family and to this chapel of Zoodochos Pigi that he built on Lefkou Pyrgou Street.

Elements of architecture:

obacco worker and became Prefect and Member of Parliament for the Rhodope Prefecture in 1936 with the Liberal Party of El. Venizelou. He is related to a mansion on Eleftheriou Venizelou Street that he bought from the Stalios family and to this chapel of Zoodochos Pigi that he built on Lefkou Pyrgou Street.
6. Elements of architecture It is a small one-aisled chapel built within a large free space. The bell tower is embedded in the roof of the chapel, above its entrance to the west and has neoclassical features. Above the entrance door, a stepped cornice is formed, which is interrupted by the marble dedicatory inscription.

Description of other elements:

The inscription reads "HOLY CHURCH OF ZOODOCHOS PIGI ERECTED BY ANARGYROS N. SIGALAS IN 1934 IN MEMORY OF HIS MOTHER MARGARITA".

Purpose - Use: Church building

Characterization: Government Gazette 612B/30-4-1976 and Government Gazette 661/Β/17-5-1976, Government Gazette 1097/14.12-1995

Dating (period): Interwar period

Year of construction: 1934

Location of the monument: 41.14201101655997, 24.883842240468223

Bibliographic references:

• Thomas Exarchou, "Two monographs. Anargyros Sigalas, Aristos Chasirtzoglou". Xanthi, 2014

Address: White Tower 2-4

Visitable: No