56. Olympia Cinema
Brief documentation:
The building was designed from the beginning to function as a cinema. It was built in 1906 at a central point of the traditional settlement and belonged to the family Sophocles Arsenakis and Ourania Orfanidou. After the death of the latter in 1969, the building passed into the ownership of the son of the family, Romulos Arsenakis. During the period 1919-1946 it operated under the name "Pantheon", and then received the name "Olympia". In recent years it has been operating as a commercial enterprise (cafe, bar and video game store).
It is a ground floor building of folk architecture, made of stonework and brickwork, while it also includes reinforced concrete interventions. The main area of the building is constructed in a rectangular shape, while the floor is sloping, as there was the projection room with the stage. Next to the central hall there were smaller ones, which served as auxiliary spaces of the cinema. In the west courtyard an external staircase led to the room where the projection engineer was located. In the courtyard during the summer months there was an open-air cinema.
Category of thematic interest: ARCHITECTURAL / HISTORICAL INTEREST
History:
he building was designed from the beginning to function as a cinema. During the period 1919 – 1946 it operated under the name "Pantheon", and then received the name "Olympia". It maintained this function until the mid-2000s. Since then, it has been used as a commercial enterprise (café, bar and video game store).
It was built in 1906 at a central point of the traditional settlement. It belonged to the family of Sophocles Arsenakis and Ourania Orfanidou, who inherited it from her mother Aspasia Orfanidou, wife of Ioannis Orfanides. After the death of Ourania Orfanidou in 1969, the building became the property of the family's son, Romulos Arsenakis.
Elements of architecture:
he ground floor building of folk architecture was designed from scratch to function as a cinema. The main space of the building is made in a rectangular shape. The floor is sloping, as there was the projection room with the stage. Next to the central hall there were smaller ones, which served as auxiliary spaces of the cinema. In the west courtyard an external staircase led to the room where the projection engineer was located. In the courtyard during the summer months there was a summer cinema.
Description of other elements:
The building is constructed of masonry with relief zones of brickwork and reinforced concrete interventions, which are evident on the northeast side of the building.
Purpose - Use: Cultural space, Commercial space
Characterization: Government Gazette 612B/30-4-1976 and Government Gazette 661/Β/17-5-1976, Government Gazette 1097/14.12-1995
Dating (period): Early 20th century
Year of construction: 1906
Location of the monument: 41.14314086714824, 24.887804210787554
Bibliographic references:
• Thomas Exarchou, Islets Polis Xanthi 2, P.A.KE.THRA., Xanthi 2003
• Elina Athanasiadou – Xenia Pasternak, Integrated intervention on a building island in the old town of Xanthi, unpublished diploma thesis, Department of Architecture, Democritus University of Thrace
Address: Orfeos 14
Visitable: Yes