32. P. Stalios Mansion – Democritus University of Thrace Building
Brief documentation:
The mansion was built in the last quarter of the 19th century by the tobacco merchant Panagiotis Stalios as his residence. The place hosted in the 1990s a well-known café-bar.
P. Stalios, born in 1812, was an important benefactor of the city, with rich social and cultural work. He built another mansion opposite 5 Venizelou Street, while he gave money for the construction in 1881 of a kindergarten (today's 1st Kindergarten of Xanthi) in Mitropoleos Square, behind the Matsinis school, i.e. today's 1st Primary School of Xanthi. The same benefactor donated the original land where the cemetery of Xanthi stands today.
The Stalios mansion is a peculiar building with a curved pediment, an element found in Northern Thrace. At the curved end of the roof, which is the characteristic of its façade, the attic is formed, with three arched openings in the center and four small square windows, placed on the same vertical axes as those of the first floor. The building today belongs to the Democritus University of Thrace.
The mansion has a public fountain on its back side, on Agiou Georgiou Street, with the marble dedicatory inscription "1885. P. STALLIOU".
Category of thematic interest: ARCHITECTURAL / HISTORICAL INTEREST
History:
The mansion was built in the last quarter of the 19th century by the tobacco merchant Panagiotis Stalios as his residence. The place hosted in the 1990s a well-known café-bar.
P. Stalios was an important benefactor of the city, with rich social and cultural work. He built another mansion opposite 5 Venizelou Street, while he gave money for the construction in 1881 of a kindergarten (today's 1st Kindergarten of Xanthi) in Mitropoleos Square, behind the Matsinis school, i.e. today's 1st Primary School of Xanthi. The same benefactor donated the original land where the cemetery of Xanthi stands today.
Elements of architecture:
The Stalios mansion is a peculiar building with a curved pediment, an element found in Northern Thrace. At the curved end of the roof, which is the characteristic of its façade, the attic is formed, with three arched openings in the center and four small square windows, placed on the same vertical axes as those of the first floor. The building today belongs to the Democritus University of Thrace.
Description of other elements:
The mansion has a public fountain on its back side, on Agiou Georgiou Street, with the marble dedicatory inscription "1885. P. STALLIOU".
Purpose - Use: Residence, Commercial space, University building
Characterization: Preservable, Institution of the Ministry of Culture, Decision DILAP/C/393/7562, Government Gazette 236/89
Dating (period): Last quarter of the 19th century
Year of construction: 1885
Location of the monument: 41.14132, 24.88713
Bibliographic references:
• Katsari-Vafiadis, J. Ed. 2023. "History and recording of the neoclassical buildings of the traditional settlement". Xanthi: Municipality of Xanthi, p. 136
Address: Eleftheriou Venizelou 2
Visitable: No