European and Byzantine art in 19th century Xanthi (60')
The route is about 2 km long, lasts about 60 minutes and is of moderate difficulty. This route will give the visitor with artistic interests and quests to get to know 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 Stavropoulos House, you will visit the 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 it is worth observing the Byzantine portable icons that bear strong western iconographic influences, mixed with traditional Byzantine standards and follow theological concepts after the 1453 conquest. They are created either by workshops active in Thrace or northern Greece (e.g. the workshop of Ainos), or by the Mount Athos workshop (e.g. the painters Nikiforos and his student Ioasaf), or by individual painters (e.g. Nikolaos from Hasköy in Constantinople, Thassios M. Evangelidis, Patrinos Takis Prionas).

It is also worth noting the crucifix in the Church of Agios Georgios, a work of Fotis Kontoglou (1959), the embroidered icon of Archangel Michael in the Church of the Taxiarchs, the marble relief candlestand in the Church of Agios Vlasios.

On the other hand, in the rich neoclassical residences one can see works of Bavarian or German painters, such as the frescoes in the Houses of Kougioumtzoglou, Stavropoulos and Michaloglou or the goddesses from the twelve Gods, which adorn the staircase of the Metaxas House. Of interest are the ceiling paintings with decorative and floral motifs in the Daniel Mansion and the Moses Mansion, while a unique example of neoclassical sculpture in the city is the statue in the courtyard of the Church of St. George.

45. Church of Agios Georgios

Brief documentation:

The Church of Agios Georgios is located in the homonymous district and was rebuilt in 1835 according to the inscription located on the outer side of the niche of the Holy Bema. The building was probably built at the expense of the tobacco merchant Kyriakos Nalbantoglou, whose tomb is placed inside the church.
It was rebuilt after the catastrophic earthquakes of 1829, possibly on the ruins of an earlier church of the Byzantine period, as according to some sources in the year 1394 there was a pilgrimage in the area with the same name.
The bell tower of the church was built at a later stage, in the year 1927.
It is a typical example of a three-aisled basilica church with a gabled roof. The masonry of the temple is dominated by local granite which is found in abundant quantity on the banks of the river Kosynthos.
It includes a narthex and a women's loft, while its iconostasis is wooden without any particular decorative elements. Inside the church, in front of the Metropolitan throne, there is on the floor the marble tomb of Kyriakos Nalbantoglou of 1837, with an illegible inscription.
The bell tower of the church is built according to neoclassical standards.
In the courtyard of the church there is a votive stele with a statue in neoclassical models, which is dedicated to the memory of Efthalia wife of Stavros Davidovich who was born in Xanthi and died in Kiev of cholera in 1866.
Inside the church there are various icons created mainly after the mid-19th century. The most remarkable of them are the icon of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary by the Thassian hagiographer Michael Evangelidis, which is painted in marble, the large icon of Agios Andreas, work of the Patras painter Takis Prionas and the icon of the Crucified, located in the Holy Bema of the Church and painted by Fotis Kontoglou in 1959.


Category of thematic interest:  ARCHITECTURAL/HISTORICAL AND RELIGIOUS INTEREST


History:

The Church of Agios Georgios is located in the homonymous district and was rebuilt in 1835 according to the inscription located on the outer side of the niche of the Holy Bema. The building was probably built at the expense of the tobacco merchant Kyriakos Nalbantoglou, whose tomb is placed inside the church.

It was rebuilt after the catastrophic earthquakes of 1829, possibly on the ruins of an earlier church of the Byzantine period, as according to some sources in the year 1394 there was a pilgrimage in the area with the same name.
The bell tower of the church was built at a later stage, in the year 1927.


Elements of architecture:

Elements of architecture    It is a typical example of a three-aisled basilica church with a gabled roof. The masonry of the temple is dominated by local granite which is found in abundant quantity on the banks of the river Kosynthos.
It includes a narthex and a women's loft, while its iconostasis is wooden without any particular decorative elements. Inside the church, in front of the Metropolitan throne, there is on the floor the marble tomb of Kyriakos Nalbantoglou of 1837, with an illegible inscription.
The bell tower of the church is built according to neoclassical standards.


Description of other elements:

In the courtyard of the church there is a votive stele with a statue in neoclassical models, which is dedicated to the memory of Efthalia wife of Stavros Davidovich who was born in Xanthi and died in Kiev of cholera in 1866.
Inside the church there are various icons created mainly after the mid-19th century. The most remarkable of them are the icon of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary by the Thassian hagiographer Michael Evangelidis, which is painted in marble, the large icon of Agios Andreas, work of the Patras painter Takis Prionas and the icon of the Crucified, located in the Holy Bema of the Church and painted by Fotis Kontoglou in 1959.


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): Third decade of the 19th century


Year of construction: 1835


Location of the monument: 41.14180752792063, 24.88652749480909


Bibliographic references:

•    Georgios Tsigaras, The churches of old Xanthi, Municipal Development Enterprise of Xanthi (DEAX) – PAKETHRA, Xanthi 2008
•    Religious Monuments of the Region of Eastern Macedonia – Thrace, Region of Eastern Macedonia – Thrace, Alexandroupolis 2008
•    Xanthi, The city with a thousand colors (Dimitris Mavridis, ed.), Municipality of Xanthi – P.A.KE.THRA., Xanthi 2007
•    Vasilios Aivaliotis, Sofia Adamantidou, Lord Nalbantoglou, the Paraschidis family and their relationship with the Lalagka, Hasirtzoglou and Zouliami families. PAKETHRA, Xanthi 2008
•    Kapetanopoulos K., "Texts and letters concerning traditions of Xanthi. A text by K. Kapetanopoulos", Thracian Chronicles, vol. 35 (1979), pp. 69-70


 Address: Agiou Georgiou 13


Visitable: Yes

 

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