Dancing in squares and gardens!

The route is about 3 km long, lasts about 80 minutes and is of moderate difficulty.

Following it you will meet some of the cultural associations that are active in the old town of Xanthi and have dance groups and rich cultural activity throughout the year!

It will also accompany you to public places and squares, where small feasts are set up during the Old Town Festivals, so it is advisable to follow it in late August-early September. It will also accompany you to mansion gardens or amphitheatrical spots, where you can rest your gaze, while admiring the natural environment within the urban landscape or the beautiful panoramic view of the city and the plain of Xanthi!

18. Ecclesiastical Library

Brief documentation:

The building was built between 1870 and 1890, probably initially as a residence, and was later donated to the local church. The building belongs today to the Holy Metropolis of Xanthi and Peritheoriou and was restored by the Cultural Development Center of Thrace (P.A.KE.THRA.) of which it was the headquarters from 1993 to 2005.
Today it operates as the Ecclesiastical Library of the Metropolis, with approximately thousands of volumes of ecclesiastical and historical content. The Library is open to the public during the morning hours, but only after consultation with the Metropolis. It is a two-storey building, in which neoclassical elements can be distinguished. It has an iron balcony, iron bars on the windows and the arched skylight above the entrance. The pilasters of the entrance, the frame of the skylight as well as the simple frames of the windows are made with the local stone of Mandra. The coating on the exterior of the building mimics an isodomic building system.
Inside the building there is a central hall, around which the rooms are arranged.

Category of thematic interest: ARCHITECTURAL / HISTORICAL INTEREST

History:

The building was built in the period 1870-1890 probably initially as a residence, and later it was donated to the local church. The building belongs to the Holy Metropolis of Xanthi and Peritheoriou and was restored by the Cultural Development Center of Thrace (P.A.KE.THRA.) of which it was the headquarters from 1993 to 2005. Today it operates as the Ecclesiastical Library of the Metropolis, with approximately thousands of volumes of ecclesiastical and historical content. The Library is open to the public, only after consultation with the Metropolis.

Elements of architecture:

It is a two-storey building, in which neoclassical elements can be distinguished. It has an iron balcony, iron bars on the windows and the arched skylight above the entrance. The pilasters of the entrance, the frame of the skylight as well as the simple frames of the windows are made with the local stone of Mandra.
Inside the building there is a central hall, around which the rooms are arranged.

Description of other elements:

The coating on the exterior of the building mimics an isodomic building system.

Purpose - Use: Residence, Ecclesiastical building

Characterization: Preserved, Institution of the Ministry of Culture, Decision DILAP/C/11/63051, Government Gazette 73/Β/28-2-86

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

Year of construction: 1870-1890

Monument location: 41.14382, 24.88778

Bibliographic references:

• Holy Metropolis of Xanthi and Peritheoriou https://im- xanthis.gr/ekklisiastiki-vivliothiki/
• PACKETHRA https://pakethra.gr/edres/

Address: Antikas 14

Visitable: No