15. House of Ath. Kougioumtzoglou
Brief documentation:
The building was built in the decade 1890-1900, by the tobacco merchant, prominent elder and benefactor of the city, Athanasios Kougioumtzoglou.
It is a neoclassical building, corner, with symmetry and entrance on Orfeos Street. There is a cornice that defines the different levels of the house, namely the semi-basement, the ground floor and the first floor. With the protrusion on the first floor, the traditional but slightly protruding triangular sachnisi on Antika Street, the floor space becomes rectangular and therefore more functional. The building, like the rest of old Xanthi, has many windows that offer plenty of light inside the house as well as decorative ironwork in the openings of the ground floor and on the balcony. The beveled corner, created at the junction of Antika and Orfeos streets, contributes to the protection of the walls of the building from the carts that turned and to the better exploitation of public space.
The great-granddaughter of the original owner is Melpo Logotheti-Merlier, who was born in Xanthi in 1889 (-1979). The well-known musicologist and folklorist, together with her husband Octavio Merlier (1897-1976), founded the Music Archives of Tradition. After the war, this Association was named "Centre for Asia Minor Studies – Melpo and Octavius Merlier Foundation" and operates until today in Athens as an active, scientific institution.
Category of thematic interest: ARCHITECTURAL / HISTORICAL INTEREST
History:
The building was built in the decade 1890-1900, by the tobacco merchant, prominent elder and benefactor of the city, Athanasios Kougioumtzoglou.
Elements of architecture:
It is a neoclassical building, corner, with symmetry and entrance on Orfeos Street. There is a cornice that defines the different levels of the house, namely the semi-basement, the ground floor and the first floor. With the protrusion on the first floor, the traditional but slightly protruding triangular sachnisi on Antika Street, the floor space becomes rectangular and therefore more functional. The building, like the rest of old Xanthi, has many windows that offer plenty of light inside the house as well as decorative ironwork in the openings of the ground floor and on the balcony. The beveled corner, created at the junction of Antika and Orfeos streets, contributes to the protection of the walls of the building from the carts that turned and to the better exploitation of public space.
Description of other elements:
The great-granddaughter of the original owner is Melpo Logotheti-Merlier, who was born in Xanthi in 1889 (-1979). The well-known musicologist and folklorist, together with her husband Octavio Merlier (1897-1976), founded the Music Archives of Tradition. After the war, this Association was named "Centre for Asia Minor Studies – Melpo and Octavius Merlier Foundation" and operates until today in Athens as an active, scientific institution.
Purpose - Use: Residence
Characterization: Preservable, Institution of the Ministry of Culture, Category "A", Government Gazette 215/Β/21-4-88
Dating (period): Last decade of the 19th century
Year of construction: 1890s-1900s
Monument location: 41.14348, 24.88802
Bibliographic references:
• Katsari-Vafiadis, J. Ed. 2023. "History and recording of the neoclassical buildings of the traditional settlement". Xanthi: Municipality of Xanthi, p. 54
Address: Antikas and Orfeos 43
Visitable: No