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European and Byzantine art in 19th century Xanthi (50')
The route is about 1 km long, lasts about 50 minutes and is of low difficulty. This route will give visitors with artistic interests the opportunity to get a taste of European and Byzantine art, as expressed in buildings of old Xanthi in the 19th century.

Starting from the Church of Agios Vlasios and ending at the Stalios Kindergarten, you will visit indicative churches of old Xanthi with the wood carvings on the iconostasis, the portable icons, the miniature objects, representative samples of the post-Byzantine period. In the buildings of secular architecture you will admire the European style ceiling paintings and frescoes, of the so-called Belle Époque (1871-1914).

In the old churches you will notice the Byzantine portable icons, which bear strong western iconographic influences, mixed with traditional Byzantine standards and follow the theological conceptions after the 1453 conquest. In the residences you will see frescoes and ceiling paintings painted by Bavarian or German painters.

On this route it is worth observing the icons of the iconostasis and the marble relief candlestick in the Church of Agios Vlasios, the Crucifix in the Church of Agios Georgios, work of Fotis Kontoglou (1959) and the unique neoclassical statue in the courtyard of the same church, the rich ceiling paintings with decorative and floral motifs and the young Eros in Daniel's Mansion and the frescoes with the Bavarian landscapes in the Kougioumtzoglou Mansion.

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

 

17. Kougioumtzoglou Mansion – Folklore and Historical Museum of F.E.X. 17. Kougioumtzoglou Mansion – Folklore and Historical Museum of F.E.X. 35. Daniel Mansion – Multiplex of Art and Thought 35. Daniel Mansion – Multiplex of Art and Thought
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  • Pl. Dimokratias (Central                       Square) P.C. 671 32, Xanthi
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