What I can see

Papafio Foundation is a building of late neoclassicism, with eclectic and renaissance elements; it is symmetrical, has a central part in projection, a monumental staircase, a triangular pediment and arched openings with false columns. The openings of the wings are simpler and the building has a rhythmic succession of openings and pilasters with pseudo-columns. Above the Ionic columns of the entrance (propylon), there is a dedication to the merchant and banker Ioannis Papafis (1792-1886), who made a donation for the building’s construction. The architect Xenophon Paionidis followed the basic principle of classicism, i.e. the three horizontal zones (base-main body-crowning), which is also emphasized by the horizontal decorative strips. The building consists of three levels and its floor plan is E-shaped. It was built at a time when Thessaloniki was still under Ottoman rule and E worked as a symbol of the Ideas for freedom and the union with Greece. All three of these Greek words begin with the letter E (Eleftheria= Freedom, Enosi= Union, (H)Ellas or Ellada= Greece).

What I can't see

At that time, it was the largest building in the city; it had been characterized as one of the most magnificent buildings in the East and as the “brilliant palace of the orphanhood”. In the beginning, charity and cultural events used to take place here, but later, it operated as the “Papafio Orphanage for Boys” and at the same time, it was called “Meliteus”, deriving from the ancient Greek name of Malta, where Papafis lived and thrived. In addition to being an orphanage, it was also a place of vocational training for orphaned children. It served as a hospital at the end of the Balkan Wars and later housed the 13th Infantry Regiment. During World War I, it housed the British Eastern Military Headquarters, it became a hospital again during the interwar period, operated as a German hospital during World War II and an English military hospital after the war. It became an orphanage again during the civil war. In a small room on the first floor, there is a small museum in honour of King George I, who was assassinated in Thessaloniki and his death was confirmed here.

Info

• Address: 33 Papafi St.
• Postal Code : 54638
• Phone: +30 2313 320214
• E-mail: [email protected]
• Website: http://www.papafeio.gr/

Bibliography