Neoclassical and eclectic buildings of Old Xanthi
This route is about 3 km, about 80 minutes and of moderate difficulty. It starts from Antikas Square and ends at the border of the old town with the modern city to the west. Through this route, the visitor has the opportunity to get to know the practice of neoclassicism and eclecticism, as expressed in about 50 buildings of old Xanthi.

Neoclassicism appeared in the 18th and 19th centuries and is strongly influenced by the principles governing the architecture of classical antiquity. The buildings are distinguished for the simplicity of their geometric forms, the Doric detail, the simplicity, the absolute symmetry, the dividing lines of the vertical spreads and the pilasters with false capitals at the corners.

Eclecticism, on the other hand, is the architectural style of the 19th and 20th centuries, in which a variety of elements from various eras and styles are selected and used, in a single building. The eclectic buildings in Xanthi are influenced by neoclassicism (e.g. absolute symmetry, verticality), while individual elements are influenced by Art Deco (e.g. strong decorative mood), central Europe (e.g. turret roof configuration or turret development), English Baroque (e.g. the use of red brick) and Romanesque style (e.g. arched openings and curved arches).

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

 

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