The Elders’ council of Xanthi and its representatives
The route is about 2 km long, lasts about 60 minutes and is of moderate difficulty. It starts from the district of Agios Vlasios and ends at the district of Akathist Hymn. In it, the visitor will have the opportunity to learn through the buildings about the Greek Orthodox community, the Elders of Xanthi, the most important elders, as well as about buildings related to the activity of the community.

The Elders’ council was the administrative system of the Greek Orthodox community during the Ottoman Empire. The elders, otherwise known as provosts or kodjabashis, were unpaid or salaried representatives, elected by Christians with the approval of the Ottomans. On the one hand, they facilitated the administration and collection of taxes on behalf of the Ottomans and, on the other, they administered the community, took care of its schools, managed the revenues of churches, monasteries and community property, resolved court issues and imposed penitentiary penalties. President of the Elders’ council was the Metropolitan of Xanthi and Peritheoriou. Active metropolitans were Eugenios (1792-1848) and Ioakeim Sgouros (1864-1912). In Xanthi, the Elders met at the Church of Timios Prodromos and later at the Metropolitan Mansion. The schools of the Elders’ council consisted of the Stalios Kindergarten, the Matsinis School, while a school also operated in the courtyard of Agios Vlasios. Well-known names who served as Elders are Michaloglou, Valixoglou, Karabetsis, Chasirtzoglou, Stalios, Sigalas, Matsinis, Velios, Ladas, Stavropoulos etc. Many of them served as ecclesiastical commissioners in the various churches of the city, as curators/teachers of schools, while their benefactions and donations to the Greek Orthodox community of Xanthi were important.

94. D. Chasirtzoglou Building – Folk Art Store

Brief documentation:

The building originally belonged to Dukas Chasirtzoglou and must have been built in the late 19th century, as well as the diagonally opposite mansion of Moses. Chasirtzoglou was a teacher in Xanthi, trustee of the Monastery of Panagia Archangeliotissa with many benefactions to it.
The building was sold in 1930 to Efrosini (Frosinoula) Koulakloglou, a legendary seamstress of the interwar period in Xanthi, who was declared Miss Xanthi in 1929. Today it still belongs to the Koulakloglou family and operates as a folk art store.
It is a building with neoclassical elements, such as the false pilasters with the surfaces that barely protrude on the façade, the rough stepped base, which defines the level of the ground floor on the sloping ground of the area, the cornice that defines the upper end of the ground floor and the first floor as well as the false pilasters that frame the front door.
The building is on a corner and has two entrances, one on each street. It is built entirely with Mandra stone, a yellowish local stone from the quarries of the homonymous area, located in the south of Xanthi and was a stone mining site since antiquity.
In this shop the stone reliefs with various representations (animal, anthropomorphic, vegetable) are impressive, crown the arched openings of the ground floor (doors and windows) and are the so-called "keys". On the first floor the windows are fewer in number and rectangular.


Category of thematic interest:  ARCHITECTURAL / HISTORICAL INTEREST


History:

The building originally belonged to Dukas Chasirtzoglou and must have been built in the late 19th century, as was the diagonally opposite building of Moses. Chasirtzoglou was a teacher in Xanthi, trustee of the Monastery of Panagia Archangeliotissa with many benefactions to it.
The building was sold in 1930 to Efrosini (Frosinoula) Koulakloglou, a legendary seamstress of the interwar period in Xanthi, who was declared Miss Xanthi in 1929. Today it still belongs to the Koulakloglou family and operates as a folk art store.


Elements of architecture:

It is a building with neoclassical elements, such as the false pilasters with the surfaces that protrude slightly on the façade, the rough stepped base, which defines the level of the ground floor on the sloping ground of the area, the cornice that defines the upper end of the ground floor and the first floor as well as the false pilasters in the frame of the front door. The building is on a corner and has two entrances, one on each street.


Description of other elements:

 The building is built entirely with Mandra stone, a local stone from quarries of the homonymous area located south of Xanthi and was a stone mining site since antiquity.
In this shop the stone reliefs with various representations (animal, anthropomorphic, vegetable) are impressive, crown the arched openings of the ground floor (doors and windows) and are the so-called "keys". On the first floor the windows are fewer in number and rectangular.


Purpose - Use: Commercial space


Characterization: YPO/YPO/DILAP/G/1895/30606/11-08-1987, Government Gazette 483/Β/04-09- 1987


Dating (period): Late 19th century


Year of construction: Late 19th century


Location of the monument: 41.1426, 24.8873


Bibliographic references:

•    Katsari-Vafiadis, J. Ed. 2023. "History and recording of the neoclassical buildings of the traditional settlement". Xanthi: Municipality of Xanthi, p. 89


 Address: F. Amiridi 11 & Mavromichali


Visitable: Yes

 

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