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The pepper song

The pepper song

October 30, 2024
Queen Amalia loved gardening and made efforts to plant trees in the streets of Athens. Today’s Amalias Avenue was roughly laid out during Otto’s reign […]
Jewish Cemetery

Jewish Cemetery

October 29, 2024
Often places, objects, and sounds remind us of painful events. These memories underscore the need for a constant confrontation with the past in order to […]
Table wars

Table wars

October 28, 2024
Apart from conversation and social contacts, the Athenian cafes served many functions. They were political party centres and places where aspiring ministers presented their programs […]
Sachnisi or Erker?

Sachnisi or Erker?

October 23, 2024
After the devastating fire of 1870 that struck Genisea, Xanthi emerged as the new administrative capital and experienced a period of significant development, further enhanced […]
Ελάφια και ζαρκάδια

Deer and roe deer

October 22, 2024
Within a few years of the start of the landscaping work, the Royal Garden had transformed an arid and barren landscape into an earthly paradise […]
Garden Theatre "Beautiful view"

Garden Theatre “Beautiful view”

October 21, 2024
At the junction of Vasilissis Sofias and Mavromichali streets stood one of the oldest cafes in Xanthi, called “Beautiful View”. It was built around 1910 […]
Queen of the palm trees

Queen of the palm trees

October 18, 2024
Amalia was very fond of palm trees. Dozens of trees weighing many tons arrived in Piraeus by boat and travelled to Athens by cart, which […]
Donkeys and bearded priests

Donkeys and bearded priests

October 16, 2024
Some Bavarians opposed the demolition of the mediaeval monuments on the Acropolis. The destruction of these picturesque remains deprived the city of something irreplaceable. The […]
Republic Square

Xanthi in the interwar period

October 10, 2024
In the “Biographical Note in First Person” published in the Melbourne Festival programme in May 1980, Manos Hadjidakis writes: “Ι was born on 23rd October […]
Rubble

Rubble

October 9, 2024
The archaeological excavations at the Acropolis began in the summer of 1834 with the removal of Byzantine, Frankish and Ottoman fortifications. However, the main problem […]
A Cannon at the Acropolis

Telling Time

October 7, 2024
Immediately after the city’s liberation, the mosque in the centre of the Parthenon became a barracks for a Bavarian company with a few cannons. Otto’s […]
Xanthi's train station

Xanthi’s train station

October 3, 2024
During the period of economic prosperity in the city of Xanthi, which lasted between 1860 and 1910, the construction of the railway line connecting Thessaloniki […]
Whistling

Whistling

October 2, 2024
In many homes with no musical instruments, the guests whistled to help each other dance. The more affluent Athenians tried to provide their households with […]
children and adult tobacco workers in one such tobacco warehouse.

Scent of Tobacco

October 1, 2024
The introduction of tobacco cultivation in the Ottoman Empire dates back to the end of the 16th century. By the 17th century, the region of […]
Dance in the countryside

Dance in the countryside

September 30, 2024
Not all Athenians had fun in the same way. Working-class people usually attended dances in the countryside with a particular preference for folk dances like […]
The new sounds of Athens

The new sounds of Athens

September 26, 2024
Athens’s rapid urban and population development inevitably affected the physical remains of the city’s classical past and introduced a new repertoire of sounds. The burble […]
A public building for Xanthi

A public building for Xanthi

September 23, 2024
The period 1870-1900 emerges as one of the most critical epochs for Xanthi in the 19th century. During this time, the headquarters of the kaza […]
Φανάρια λαδιού

Oil lamps

September 19, 2024
Cries of pain and anger were a familiar evening sound in Otto’s Athens. The first oil lanterns were installed in 1835, but they cast a […]
Old Xanthi

A place full of history

September 17, 2024
In the late 14th century, the Ottomans occupied Byzantine Xanthia and established a new administrative center, called Yenice Karasu (modern Yenisea). After 1870, the headquarters […]
Carcasses

Carcasses

September 16, 2024
Apart from the people, the streets of Athens were full of animals, but fate often played cruel games. Passers-by were constantly confronted with dead crows, […]
the new center of Xanthi

Establishing the new center of Xanthi

September 12, 2024
The economic prosperity of Xanthi after 1860 significantly influenced its urban development. To the south of the old town, khans (Ottoman hotels) began to appear, […]
The frogs

The frogs

September 11, 2024
One of the sounds many visitors to Athens missed was the water of the river Illissus, which flowed next to the Temple of Olympian Zeus. […]
Xanthi's old hospital

Xanthi’s hospital

September 10, 2024
The necessity for a hospital in Xanthi was evident from the beginning of the 20th century and the Demogerontia (council of Greek community leaders under […]
The wolf

The wolf

September 9, 2024
The Temple of Olympian Zeus area was a popular destination for those keen to take a walk, but both lonely visitors and groups of friends […]
The nightingales

The nightingales

September 7, 2024
The Royal Garden grew in a barren piece of land on the city’s outskirts. The tireless efforts of Queen Amalia and her gardeners managed to […]
the Jewish community of Xanthi

The Jewish community of Xanthi

September 6, 2024
The Jewish community of Xanthi, although small in number, played a crucial role in the development of the city. The first Jewish families seem to […]
The storm of the century

The storm of the century

September 5, 2024
In 1852, a natural disaster of unnatural intensity struck Athens. The storm made all the houses creak, knocked down chimneys, shattered shutters and carried off […]
Pindarou Street, old Xanthi

Pindarou Street, old Xanthi

September 4, 2024
The oil painting by the painter Irini Hadjisavvas depicts Pindarou Street, which leads to the eastern end of the Old Xanthi, next to the Kosynthos […]
Amalie

Jewellery or flowers?

September 3, 2024
Under the cheerful sounds of the polonaise, the guests of Otto and Amalia filled the palace halls with their majestic uniforms and fancy toilets. The […]
The indestructible church

The indestructible church

September 2, 2024
This small triconch church that watches from above the Old Town of Xanthi is the catholicon (the main church) of the monastery of the Taxiarchs. […]
Fresh sardines

Fresh sardines

August 30, 2024
The part of Ermou Street between Kapnikarea and Syntagma Square has always been the most elegant, with shops catering to the upper class of Athenians. […]
New Year’s Eve

New Year’s Eve

August 28, 2024
New Year’s Eve was the occasion for a prolonged revelry. The Athenians locked their houses and gathered on Ermou Street to spend the whole day […]
Assassination attempt

Assassination attempt

August 26, 2024
The church of the Gorgoepikoos was built in the 12th century. It became a library in the early years of Otto’s reign. In 1861, there […]
Another view of Hydragogiou street

Another view of Hydragogiou Street

August 25, 2024
The oil painting by Xanthi’s painter Christos Pavlidis (Antalya Asia Minor 1913 – Xanthi 1998) depicts Hydragogiou street in the old town, with its characteristic […]
Infants for sale

Infants for sale

August 24, 2024
One of the most heartbreaking sounds that passers-by heard in Otto’s Athens was the faint cries of infants in the arms of ragged women begging […]
Piraeus Street

Piraeus Street

August 22, 2024
Piraeus Street was broad and beautiful but could quickly become a nightmare. An inexperienced driver could panic and lose control of the cart, threatening to […]
the oldest church of Xanthi

The oldest church of Xanthi

August 21, 2024
The oil painting by Xanthi’s painter Christos Pavlidis (Antalya, Asia Minor 1913 – Xanthi 1998) depicts the Christian church of the Taxiarchs in the old […]
Turkish Delight

Turkish delight

August 20, 2024
In a country without roads, visitors usually arrived by sea. The route from Piraeus to Athens was one of the first to be built in […]
The lost mosque

The lost mosque

August 19, 2024
The Yeri Pazar Meydan mosque was located in the central square of Xanthi, and the famous clock tower was a part of it. Around the […]
The sounds of Mount Lycabettus

The sounds of Mount Lycabettus

August 18, 2024
Mount Lycabettus was a perennial favourite landmark of Athens. The pointed peak with the small church of Agios Georgios that crowns it offers spectacular views […]
The tobacco crisis hits Xanthi

The tobacco crisis hits Xanthi

August 17, 2024
“After the Balkan wars, since the Xanthi tobacco merchants were weakened, foreign tobacco industries dominated. However, several local firms remained in the foreground, dealing with […]
Independence Day

Independence Day

August 16, 2024
The celebration of Independence Day on March 25 was first established in 1838. The official Thanksgiving took place in Agia Irini in the presence of […]
Saint George of old Xanthi

Saint George of old Xanthi

August 12, 2024
The oil painting by Xanthi’s painter Christos Pavlidis (Antalya, Asia Minor 1913 – Xanthi 1998) depicts the Christian church of Saint George in the homonymous […]
the old fighters

The old fighters

August 11, 2024
Many veteran fighters of the Greek Revolution retired to Athens to enjoy the final years of their lives. The Coffee House of the Fighters in […]
The hawk and the crows

The hawk and the crows

August 9, 2024
Apart from the happy voices of the visitors, the Acropolis also reverberated with the loud raspy signature calls of the crows, which nested among the […]
Cicadas

Cicadas

August 7, 2024
The city fell quiet in the afternoon as the heat forced the Athenians to search for coolness and shade inside. Only the cicadas’ mating call […]
lost castle

The “lost” castle

August 6, 2024
Nowadays, the city of Xanthi is characterized by its peri-urban forest, which however did not exist at the beginning of the 20th century. The photo […]
Χορός στο Θησείο

Dancing in Thiseio

August 4, 2024
The Arvanites of Athens used to celebrate with open-air dances near the temple of Theseus. On Easter Tuesday, 1836, two thousand people gathered there. They […]
Κόσυνθος Ποταμός

Kosynthos River

August 2, 2024
Kosynthos or otherwise “Xiropotamos” (Dry-river or Kuru çay in Turkish) is the large, torrential river of Xanthi, which creates a natural barrier in the Old […]
Η ξένη του 1854

The foreigner of 1854

August 1, 2024
To prevent the participation of Greece in the Crimean War, the British and the French occupied Piraeus. Initially, the allied officers enjoyed pleasant evenings dining […]
Γυναίκες στη βρύση

Women at the fountain

July 29, 2024
Athens suffered from a terrible lack of water. Interruptions in water supply from ancient aqueducts were frequent, while the water became very scarce during prolonged […]
Achrian District

Achrian district

July 26, 2024
At the first level of the photo, a cobbled street of the old town of Xanthi is visible and a child, a little girl, is […]
Camels in Athens

Camels in Athens

July 25, 2024
One of the most unusual sounds in Athens during the first years of Otto’s reign was the grunt of countless camels that walked the city’s […]
Greek shoemaker

Greek shoemaker

July 22, 2024
The Athenians considered the street both a living room and a bedroom. Most of their lives took place outside the house. Men spent all day […]
Hostage taking of Xanthians

The hostage taking of Xanthians

July 21, 2024
In August 1913, Xanthi was in the middle of the 1st Bulgarian Occupation, after the Balkan wars. This period was particularly difficult for the inhabitants […]
Royal Stables

Royal Stables

July 20, 2024
The Royal Stables were built in 1835 and provided facilities for King Otto’s horses and carriages. The complex was located across the street from the […]
Πανοραμική λήψη της παλιάς Ξάνθης

Panoramic shot of old Xanthi

July 19, 2024
Typical photo of the Old Town settlement, with buildings of traditional and eclectic architecture “mingling” in labyrinthine alleys. No other better description of this peculiar […]
The Kontostavlos Resience

The Kontostavlos residence

June 26, 2024
The Kontostavlos residence (it occupied the site of today’s Old Parliament) was among the largest and most comfortable houses in Athens. It served as the […]
Carte postale Old Xanthi

Greetings from Xanthi

June 11, 2024
“I hope that I am leaving soon” a sender mentions on a postcard, picturing the Tabakhane (tannery) district of Xanthi, on June 7, 1910. In […]
The turkey

The turkey

May 27, 2024
The banks of the river Ilissos were a small green oasis in the arid and dusty Attic landscape. The river was little more than a […]
Old Athens - Old Xanthi

A few words about “ECHOES”

May 13, 2024
How can we capture everyday life in Athens during King Otto’s reign and in Xanthi in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries? The Echoes research project […]
The Tobacco of Xanthi

The tobacco of Xanthi

May 13, 2024
During the summer months, every open space in the old town of Xanthi was filled with frames and “hangers” with rows of tobacco leaves, drying […]
Royal Babel

Royal Babel

April 29, 2024
Otto’s Athens was an international society, which became evident during the royal dances, attended by representatives from almost every nation imaginable. Some guests spent the […]
3 September 1843 Revolution

3 September 1843 Revolution

April 17, 2024
The 3 September 1843 Revolution was the most decisive event of Otto’s reign. The earliest eyewitness accounts claimed that the people gathered in front of […]
Kapnomagazon Street

Kapnomagazon Street

April 5, 2024
The present-day Michail Karaoli Street in Xanthi, Kapnomagazon Street as mentioned in the caption. Today, few examples of tobacco warehouse buildings, also known as tobacco […]
Demolition permit

Demolition permit

March 26, 2024
The construction of the Metropolis began in 1842. Unfortunately, there was not enough money to proceed with the project, so the government decided to demolish […]
Konstantinoupoleos street

Konstantinoupoleos Street

March 25, 2024
Horse-drawn carriages, cars, pedestrians, shops, trees can be seen on Konstantinoupoleos Street, now known as Karaoli Street, in Xanthi. The photo is dated in the […]
The Olive Grove

The Olive Grove

March 24, 2024
The Elaionas was a vast forest of olive trees (about 150,000 olive trees) on the banks of the river Cephissus. Unfortunately, thousands of olive trees […]
The bog

The bog

March 2, 2024
The traveller who took Piraeus Street came in contact with an Athens substantially different from the one we know today. Most carts and carriages were […]
Lucia di Lammermoor

Lucia di Lammermoor

February 5, 2024
The Boukouras Theatre was the only winter theatre in Athens for many decades. It was inaugurated with Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” in January 1840. The […]
The ninth division at Xanthi

The ninth division at Xanthi

January 21, 2024
The second Bulgarian occupation of Xanthi ended on October 4, 1919, when the 9th Division οf the Greek Army entered the city under the command […]
Foundation ceremony

Foundation ceremony

January 16, 2024
Otto’s new palace (present-day Parliament Building) was founded on January 25, 1834. Architect Friedrich von Gärtner offered the king the palace plans wrapped in foil […]
The Achrian Temenos of Xanthi

The Achrian Temenos of Xanthi

December 23, 2023
Hidden among the narrow alleys, the Achrian Mosque was founded in the 16th century in the neighborhood of the same name within the Old Town […]
Otto's Cannons

Otto’s cannons

December 21, 2023
Loudovikou Square (today’s Kotzia Square) hosted almost all of the kingdom’s artillery. According to French journalist Edmond About, there was a hangar to shelter the […]
Civil Conflict

Civil conflict

December 8, 2023
Loudovikou Square (today’s Kotzia Square) was named in honour of King Otto’s father. The square was created because the presence of streams made it impossible […]
black and white photo of an open air area of the central square with a crowd of people

A different view of the bazaar

November 27, 2023
The area that now constitutes the central square of Xanthi was a vibrant hub where itinerant merchants would peddle their wares, horse-drawn carriages would pass […]
black and white picture of a theater building's view of the era

King Otto at the theatre

November 27, 2023
Otto loved the theatre and attended performances as often as he could. Choices, of course, were not always first-rate. The theatre usually hosted little-known lyrical […]

The central square’s Khan

November 21, 2023
The tobacco trade and the economic boom of Xanthi significantly increased the visitors that came to the city. For this reason numerous inns were built in […]

The twin kiosks

November 15, 2023
It seems as though the “tower-shaped” kiosks of the central square, built according to European standards, were a meeting point for taxi drivers lounging in […]

Smoking hookah

November 9, 2023
In public, the Athenians usually smoked cigarettes without hesitation about where they would light them. Foreigners usually could afford to buy cigars imported from Malta […]

Outdoor café

November 5, 2023
The central square of Xanthi, full of rows of outdoor café tables and seats. In the center of the photograph, there is the building of […]

Koutsavakides

November 1, 2023
The koutsavakides were a typical feature of the Athenian underworld, easily recognisable by their appearance: greasy and unkempt hair, a black jacket with only one […]

Encampment of Greek troops

October 27, 2023
Encampment of Greek troops in the western outskirts of the city of Xanthi, during the period of the Balkan wars. The soldiers in the photo […]

The green tree

October 25, 2023
The Green Tree (Zum Grüner Baum) brought a touch of Bavaria to Athens. It was located at the intersection of Hiera Odos and Megalou Alexandrou […]

The clock tower of Xanthi

October 24, 2023
Close-up of Xanthi’s central square clock tower, in its original form, possibly taken from the minaret of the mosque that stood in the square. The […]

Τhe Coffee House of Europe

October 24, 2023
The Coffee House of Europe on Aiolou Street (opposite the church of Agia Irini) was the most elegant in Athens. In contrast to the Turkish […]

The Mega Kin Cinema

October 24, 2023
The Mitropoleos district was traditionally the area where people from the city’s bourgeoisie class lived. At the end of the 19th – beginning of the […]
ασπρόμαυρη εικόνα εποχής απεικονίζει ένα διώροφο ψηλό κτίριο

Matsinios School

October 8, 2023
In the second half of the 19th century, Xanthi had begun to evolve into a thriving urban center of the region. The reorganization of the […]
έγχρωμο

Indomitable Amazon

October 8, 2023
Amalia’s great passion was horseback riding. Dressed like an Amazon in a costume that even the most elegant Parisians would envy, the queen left the […]
ασπρόμαυρη φωτογραφία σε μαύρο φόντο που απεικονίζει τη γέφυρα του ποταμού

Kosynthos bridge

September 29, 2023
Epiphany celebration on the bridge of the river of Xanthi, Kosynthos. The photo dates from before 1912, when the wooden bridge collapsed in the floods […]
έγχρωμη εικόνα που απεικονίζει ένα αγόρι με παραδοσιακή φορεσιά να κάθεται οκλαδόν μπροστά απ' την Ακρόπολη της Αθήνας και να γράφει

The goats of Athens

September 27, 2023
The population of Athens increased tenfold during the reign of Otto (from 4,000 to over 40,000 inhabitants), but the city remained small compared to other […]
ασπρόμαυρη φωτογραφία που απεικονίζει ένα επιβλητικό, διώροφο, λευκό κτίριο

Τhe Girls’ School in Xanthi

August 31, 2023
In the photo, the building of the Girls’ School of the Greek community of Xanthi, which was built in 1863 and was located in Mitropoleos […]
ασπρόμαυρη

The fountain

August 30, 2023
The fountain at Dimopratiriou Square at Monastiraki was built in 1852 to beautify the square and provide water in an emergency. In addition, the site […]

A Greek boy writing

August 25, 2023
In 1835, there were two primary schools in Athens with about eighty students. But the teaching conditions were almost inhumane. According to a journalist of […]
ασπρόμαυρη εικόνα του 1920 που απεικονίζει στο βάθος τις καπναποθήκες, χτισμένες στον κάμπο της Ξάνθης

The tobacco warehouses

August 21, 2023
“In the middle of the 19th century… Xanthi rapidly developed into an international center for the processing and trading of its famous, for its quality, […]
έγχρωμη εικόνα του 18

Koulas

August 20, 2023
The soft breeze blowing through the columns of the Parthenon at sunset helped visitors forget the echo of the horrifying cries that once emanated from […]
ασπρόμαυρη εικόνα που απεικονίζει κάτω από σειρές κτισμάτων την ακτή που σχηματίζει η κοίτη του ποταμού της Ξάνθης

The “seaside” of Xanthi

July 17, 2023
Although the city of Xanthi is built about 30 km to the north of the Thracian sea, it has a… ‘paralia’ (seaside in Greek)! The […]
ελαιογραφία του 19ου αιώνα που απεικονίζει καθιστό Έλληνα στρατιώτη. Ακουμπησμένο ανάμεσα στα πόδια του είναι το τουφέκι του

Greek soldier

July 1, 2023
The coffee shops of Athens were full of idle armed men. Wrapped in smoke and the sound of conversations by the other patrons, these men […]
ασπρόμαυρη εικόνα που απεικονίζει την πρόσοψη του υπερυψωμένου διώροφου Μητροπολιτικού Μεγάρου Ξάνθης

The Metropolitan Mansion of Xanthi

June 21, 2023
Metropolitan Mansion (Metropolis Square). An “imposing building bult in 1896 in a neoclassical style with neo-renaissance decorative elements. It was built by the Bishop Joachim […]
ασπρόμαυρη εικόνα των μέσων του 19ου αιώνα που απεικονίζει φουστανελοφόρο Αθηναίο

An Athenian wearing fustanella

June 20, 2023
The rustling of the fustanella and the sound of tsarouchia in the cobbled alleys of Plaka became rarer as the Athenians replaced the traditional costumes […]
ασπρόμαυρη φωτογραφία του κέντρου της παλαιάς Ξάνθης. Διακρίνονται ο κεντρικός δρόμος, κτίσματα εκατέρωθεν του

Xanthi. A view of the city centre

June 6, 2023
Georgiou Stavrou Street is in the foreground. The photo was most likely taken from the National Bank branch building, which is where the -now pedestrian […]
χειρόγραφο τηλεγράφημα του 1913

Telegram of the Bishop of Xanthi

May 26, 2023
After the assassination of King George the 1st in Thessaloniki on March 18th, a #telegram, the absolute device of transmitting information through the transfer of […]
ασπρόμαυρη εικόνα της υπαίθριας αγοράς της παλαιάς Αθήνας

The market

May 22, 2023
Many parts of modern Athens were unrecognisable during the years of Otto. The tranquillity of the Roman Agora would seem utterly foreign to the Athenians […]
ασπρόμαυρη εικόνα καφενείου. Άνδρες κάθονται σε παρέες σε τραπέζια πάνω σε πλακόστρωτο

Turkish coffee-house, Balkan Wars

May 17, 2023
“The clock tower in the central square of the city was built in contact with the -now demolished- central mosque of the settlement, highlighting its […]
άποψη του Πύργου των Αέρηδων στην Αθήνα.

The old plane tree

May 16, 2023
The madrasa (Muslim religious school) was founded in 1721 and suffered significant damage during the Greek War of Independence. During the reign of King Otto, […]
ασπρόμαυρη εικόνα της Η πλατεία του υπαίθριου παζαριού στις αρχές του 20ου αιώνα, με κρήνη εξαγωνικής κάτοψης και τον πύργο του ρολογιού πίσω από το δέντρο

The street market square

May 4, 2023
The street market square, in the beginning of the 20th century, with a hexagonal fountain and the clock tower behind the tree. This location is […]
έγχρωμη ζωγραφιά

The sound of Otto’s Athens

May 3, 2023
The sound of the hammer beating against the stones characterises the Athens of King Otto’s reign as architects and folk builders worked day and night […]
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