Vassilis Tsitsanis
The marble bust of Vassilis Tsitsanis, one of the greatest composers, songwriters and singers of folk songs and Rebetika.
Modern and Contemporary era (1912 - )
2001 The square was created after the initiative of poet Ntinos Christianopoulos.
2005 The sculpture, work of Theoharis Hatzivassiliadis, was uncovered.
Ottoman era (1453- 1912)
Byzantine era (331 AC- 1453)
Roman era (30 BC- 330 AC)
Hellenistic era (322- 31 BC)
Classical era (478-323 BC)
Archaic era (800-479 BC)
Geometric era (-1100- 800 BC)
Prehistory (-1100 BC)
What I can see
The marble bust is of Vassilis Tsitsanis, one of the greatest composers, songwriters and singers of folk songs and Rebetika, of the previous century. These songs are even nowadays widely popular in Rebetika taverns, restaurants, concerts and other cultural events. The bust rests on a stone pedestal, referring to the Hellenistic and Byzantine city walls.
What I can't see
Vassilis Tsitsanis, from Trikala (central Greece), is the artist who made rebetika popular in lounges with his work being continued later by Manolis Chiotis. Father of the rebetika was Markos Vamvakaris (1905-1972), who refined the rebetika during the interwar period and used oriental musical scales. His songs were banned as they were considered subversive, provocative and of “lower masses”, who were under the influence of hashish. To avoid censorship, which was still very intense even after the war, Tsitsanis started using more westernised scales, without giving up his rebetiko identity. The result was that from an utterly marginal music genre of an opium den, rebetika climbed into the higher classes and became popular in the broader population.
Info
- Address: Dimitriou Poliorkitou St.
Bibliography
http://www.athensvoice.gr/article/city-news-voices/soul/%CE%BB%CE%B5%CF%89%CF%86%CE%BF%CF%81%CE%B5%CE%AF%CE%BF-22
Last visit: 6/10/2015
Field observation by scientific editors
Orfanidis D., (2016), Υπαίθρια Γλυπτά της Θεσσαλονίκης, παράμετροι υποβάθμισης και φθοράς των υλικών τους, Διπλωματική Εργασία, [Outdoor Sculptures of Thessaloniki, parameters of degradation and wear of their materials], A.U.Th.
Collective work, (1997), Μάρκος Βαμβακάρης, [Markos Vamvakaris], Athens: Tegopoulos Maniateas
Collective work, (1997), Βασίλης Τσιτσάνης, [Vasilis Tsitsanis], Athens: Tegopoulos Maniateas
