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Hirs/ Benny Fernandez Villa

The Hirs/ Benny Fernandez Villa is an eclectic house in immediate need of restoration.

  1. Modern and Contemporary era (1912 - )


    1911 Built.

  2. Ottoman era (1453- 1912)


  3. Byzantine era (331 AC- 1453)


  4. Roman era (30 BC- 330 AC)


  5. Hellenistic era (322- 31 BC)


  6. Classical era (478-323 BC)


  7. Archaic era (800-479 BC)


  8. Geometric era (-1100- 800 BC)


  9. Prehistory (-1100 BC)


What I can see

Today, the mansion of Vitali Fernández is in a very bad condition and many architectural and decorative members have been looted. Only a few relief compositions on the lintels of the facades are preserved. The wooden roof has steep slopes, leaving room for a comfortable loft. Today, the roof has partly collapsed. The building consists of two levels, a semi-basement and an elevated ground floor. The balcony’s roof of the main facade is disproportionate and was supported by wooden cantilevered beams that reached deep into the ground, a rare case of architectural design. The premises of the building are arranged around a central octagonal hall.

What I can't see

Today, it belongs to the heirs of Germaine Hirsch, daughter of Fernandez, who live in Paris. It was designed by Pietro Arrigoni. The decoration of the facades was very rich and included embossed floral motifs, figures of Atlases, medallions with a girl’s face and roof paintings. It was called the “Villa of Blood” because the Gestapo was stationed here and it was a place of horrific torture, from where loud screams could be heard. During the Greek civil war, it housed the 1st police station. The reinforced concrete watchtower with battlements is either a remnant of the German Occupation or the civil war. Today, the building is for sale.

Info

  • Address: 144 Vas. Olgas Av.

Bibliography

Ζafeiris Ch., (2014), Θεσσαλονίκη, η παρουσία των απόντων, η κληρονομιά Ρωμαίων, Μουσουλμάνων, Εβραίων, Ντονμέδων, Φράγκων, Αρμενίων και Σλάβων, [Thessaloniki, the presense of the absent, the heritage of Romans, Muslims, Jews, Doenme, Franks, Armenians and Slavs], Thessaloniki: Epikentro

 

Collective Work, (1985-6), Νεώτερα Μνημεία της Θεσσαλονίκης [Modern Monuments of Thessaloniki], Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Northern Greece

 

Tsikalas P., (2022), Το ιστορικό κτήριο στην ανατολική Θεσσαλονίκη βγήκε προς πώληση από την ιδιοκτήτρια Εθνική Ασφαλιστική – Η ιστορία της Βίλας Χιρς, [The historic building in eastern Thessaloniki was put up for sale by the owner Ethniki Asfalistiki – The story of Villa Hirsch], in Voria.gr

https://www.voria.gr/article/thessaloniki-pano-apo-14-ekat-evro-polite-i-villa-chirs—i-idioktisia-ke-ta-stichia

Last visit 31/12/2022