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.

Points Expand/Collapse

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