Metropolis’ Cathedral

Metropolis’ Cathedral

en

XNP.08

41.143822

24.887723

The building was built during the Ottoman Empire in the period of 1870 - 1890, by workers of Epirus and was donated, to the Greek Community of Xanthi. Probably, later, it becomes property of the local church by donation. Architectural description: Two storey building, of neoclassical architecture, with visible stonework defining the vertical edges of the building. The rest is plastered and bears engravings that mimic the ashlar building system of the ancient classical times. Typical is the entrance,with the arched skylight ,pilasters and doorframes openings, all made with easy carved, brown-beige,local stone of Mandra. From the quarries of Mandra, distant from the city of Xanthi about 25 km south, this material with sandstone origin was used, since Antiquity,for the erection of walls, buildings, and funerary monuments in ancient Abdera. Notice, the building, the protective fenders of the openings and the whole structure of the balcony. All of them are made with cast iron. Over time:The building belongs to the Holy Church of Xanthi and Peritheorio. During the period of Ottoman rule served for short periods, as the center of the Greek Consulate. In the early 1990s,it is preserved by the Cultural Development Center of Thrace (PAKETHRA) and, from 1993 to 2005, served as a venue for cultural events.
The building was completely preserved, the years 1993 - 1994, from PAKETHRA with its own resources and work of its members. In the picture,there is an inner wall of the floor, made with the technique of "lath", that is wooden frame filled by broken bricks, or small stones and smear, commonly reinforced with straw or goat hair. How it operates today: Today, it serves as a Library of the Holy Church of Xanthi, having more than seven thousand volumes with ecclesiastical and historical content. The Library is open to the public upon request of the Holy Church of Xanthi.

ATH