What I can see

The plan of the building follows the Hebrard morphological proposals (the architect who coordinated the city’s reconstruction efforts after the fire of 1917) and recalls memories of the Byzantine past of the city. The building’s educational-religious function contributed to the choice of the Byzantine architectural “vocabulary”. When viewing the main facade from the YMCA square, one can distinguish two basic three-storey wings, which meet at a central cylinder and finish into a dome with arched openings. At the windows of the third floor and the entrance we can see arches, columns, stanchions and Byzantine style capitals. The building runs a toothed strip (brick ornament of Byzantine origin).

What I can't see

The financing of the mansion was ensured by donations. The architect of this neo-byzantine mansion was Marinos Delladetsimas, a graduate of the Ecole Speciale de Paris and director of the municipal service of architecture. Delladetsimas’ colleagues and the press accused him for making the YMCA plan into a sterile copy of Hebrard’s morphological proposals. Inside the building, spaces of libraries and a theatre (“Avlea” [=Curtain]) were designed, which still exist. The Brotherhood stood for charity, sports and social activity. It brought basketball in the country and was a hotbed for the development of this sport in Thessaloniki. The first open basketball court is preserved in the sports facilities, behind the mansion. In recent years, it was undergone extensive remodelling and modernization projects, such as the addition of an underground parking, catering, and more.

Info

• Address: 1 N. Germanou St.
• Postal Code : 54621
• Phone: +30 2310 241007
• E-mail: [email protected]
• Website: http://www.ymca.gr/

Bibliography