The cultural and folklore character in Xanthi today

The city of Xanthi has highlighted over the years an incomparably rich cultural character, which has been indelibly imprinted on its urban fabric. Dozens of places and buildings in old Xanthi function as expressions of the culture and folklore of the city, where artistic events and events of small and large scale take place.

On this route, about 2 km, lasting about 60 minutes and of moderate difficulty, the visitor will have the opportunity to tour almost the entire area of Old Xanthi and visit buildings and places of cultural and artistic activities, as well as places where folklore customs regarding religious ceremonies continue. This route mainly concerns the period of the Old Town Festivals, which take place every year since 1991 in late August-early September.

Starting from the Daniel Mansion, the famous house of Manos Hadjidakis, and ending at the Chapel of Agioi Theodoroi, the visitor will have the opportunity to get to know places that have operated and still operate throughout the year as seats of cultural associations, groups, writers and artists active in the city of Xanthi.

Apart from the established Old Town Festivals, these spaces are functional throughout the year, either as visitable exhibition spaces, such as the Folklore Museum, the House of Shadow and the Municipal Art Gallery, or as venues for events, concerts, etc., such as the F.E.X. House of Culture.

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51. Stathopoulos Workshop

Brief documentation:

The building was designed from the beginning to function as a commercial store. From the mid-2000s until 2017 it housed the workshop of the painter Dimitris Stathopoulos.
Stathopoulos was born in Thessaloniki in 1946 and lived in Xanthi until 2017 when he passed away. Since 1970 he has participated in many solo and group exhibitions. He has designed stage sets by groups in Xanthi, while he illustrated books and painted portraits of Thracian artists. His works can be found in collections in Greece and abroad as well as in many municipal galleries (including Xanthi’s). He has made oil and tempera paintings, while since the 80s he has devoted himself to watercolor, with realist tendencies. With this technique he imprinted many corners and buildings of old Xanthi.
The building is a one-storey building, of simple architecture which was originally designed to be used as a shop. The commercial function of the building determined its morphological characteristics, as it includes symmetrical arched openings on the ground floor (shop window), which are covered with large iron shutters. It is built with carved stonework, which is made of the characteristic local granite.
Above the main entrance of the building there is a large skylight, which is covered with ornate ironwork. There is similar architecture in other commercial spaces in the old town of Xanthi.

Category of thematic interest: CULTURAL / FOLKLORE INTEREST

History:

The building was designed from the beginning to function as a commercial store. From the mid-2000s until 2017 it housed the workshop of painter Dimitris Stathopoulos.
Stathopoulos was born in Thessaloniki in 1946 and lived in Xanthi until 2017 when he passed away. Since 1970 he has participated in many solo and group exhibitions. He has designed stage sets for theatrical plays by groups in Xanthi. He illustrated books and painted portraits of Thracian artists. In 1999 he participated in the program THRACE-AEGEAN-CYPRUS working as a representative painter from Thrace in Marathokampos, Samos. His works can be found in collections in Greece and abroad as well as in many municipal galleries (including Xanthi’s). He has made oil and tempera paintins, while since the 80s he has devoted himself to watercolor, with realist tendencies. With this technique he imprinted many corners and buildings of old Xanthi.

Elements of architecture:

The building is a one-storey building, of simple architecture which was originally designed to be used as a shop. The commercial function of the building determined its morphological characteristics, as it includes symmetrical arched openings on the ground floor (shop window), which are covered with large iron shutters. It is built with carved stonework, which is made of the characteristic local granite.

Description of other elements:

Above the main entrance of the building there is a large skylight, which is covered with ornate ironwork. There is similar architecture in other commercial spaces in the old town of Xanthi.

Purpose - Use: Commercial spac,e Cultural space

Characterization: Preservable, Institution of the Ministry of Education, Category “B”, Decision 5385, Government Gazette 1097/95

Dating (period): Late 19th century

Year of construction: Late 19th century

Location of the monument: 41.145210, 24.889163

Bibliographic references:

• D. Mavridis (ed.). Xanthi, the city with a thousand colors. Xanthi, PAKETHRA 2008, p. 193

Address: Aristeidou 39

Visitable: No