The Athenian suburb of Kifissia and its architecture. Manor houses in the north of Athens

text & images: Babis Pavlopoulos - iconstravel photogrpahy

   

Atlantis villa (1897), built by the famous German architect Ernst Ziller in the Neobyzantine style, using elements from the European tradition. The frieze paintings and the richly decorated console on the cornice of the roof underline the romantic sense that the building exudes.

Kifissia is a suburb of Athens located in the north of the city. Originally, until the start of the 20^th Century, it was just part of the countryside around the city; a place with many trees and a great climate to live. For these reasons, at the end of the 19^th Century, rich Athenian people like businessmen and politicians and also artists like poets and authors chose this place to build their countryside houses. During this period, in the big cities of Greece, owning a second residence close to nature was the trend, of course only for those who could. The newspapers of that period advertised the suburb as the healthiest and the coolest place to be.  

The Tower of Kifissia (1910), a landmark for the Athenian suburb. 
In fact it was built as a hotel (Grand Bretagne) 
and has square ground plan with a round corner tower and an inner yard, 
typical example of the Greece-Swiss style.

The residences that were built in Kifissia were not simple buildings that just followed the main architectural stream of the period in Greece, namely, the Neoclassical style. The owners of them decided that these constructions might have something special, something projected out of the Greek trend or tradition, so as to represent their social status and at the same time meeting the surrounding natural environment. The result was the creation of a completely different architectural style than anything was suggested up until this time in the neighbouring Athens or in the whole of Greece. This architectural style was named “Greek-Swiss” style and it became the mainstream for this Athenian suburb. Nevertheless, the Kifissian residences have many differences in appearance, with a variety of original forms, and even though the word ‘homogeneity” is an unknown word for this local architecture, some common typical elements can be found on these buildings.

Actually, the “Greek-Swiss” style is nothing more than part of the Historicism and the Eclecticism style. The Historicism architectural style had been born almost one century before in Europe, representing older forms in new constructions within the frame of romanticism that flourished during this period. So, for example we had the revival of the Gothic style as Neogothic, the revival of the Renaissance style as Neorenaissance etc. When architects began to collect elements of more than one style to plan new buildings, the Eclecticism style was born.

Syggros tower (end of the 19^th Century), planed by Ernst Ziller. It belongs to Neogothic style with corner bartizans and battlemented parapets. Neoclassical elements are also present.

  The chapel of Syggros tower, dedicated to Saint Andreas, planed also by Ernst Ziller. The pointed arched openings, the decoration around the door, the A frame roof, the rose window above the door and the Gothic spires classify the building in the Neogothic style. Perhaps it is the only one orthodox church, built in this style.

This was the frame that architects applied to attempt to satisfy the desires of rich Athenians who aimed to obtain a residence in Kifissia. The older architectural styles that they took their inspiration from was the Gothic style, the Renaissance style, the Byzantine style and the style of the European farmhouses and generally the European rural architecture. It is worth noting that many of the owners and the architects were aware of the European architectural styles, styles that never flourished in Greece, except for the Byzantine, long time ago. Some of the owners had lived in north and central Europe and some of the architects had studied there. In fact, there was a small number of stately houses built in the Historicism style until this time, like the Castello of Rododafni and the Vila Ilissia, both owned by Duchess of Piacenza, but they could not become the inspiration for the Kifissian residences.  

Kassavetis tower (1910), Eclecticism building, close to the English countryside style. A square tower is added at the back of the building. Greek-Swiss style.

Kassavetis tower (1910), the added square tower with the pointed roof and the painting below the cornice.

Countess De Brook residence (1900). The building stands close to the medieval era with two corner bartizans but also to the German half-timbered structures. 

Penelope Delta’s residence (before 1912), built in Neogothic style with Neoclassical elements. Penelope Delta was an author.

As has been said the variety of forms that we can find in Kifissia is inexhaustible, but if we want to classify them in categories, even though there are not fixed limits, we could separate them in three: The Eclecticism residences, the Picturesque residences and the Neoclassical residences. Only a few buildings belong in the last category  because of the reasons we mentioned in the previous lines. The category of the Eclecticism residences includes buildings with elements from all the older styles which were mentioned before, even from the Neoclassical style. So, we can find Gothic added towers, usually as corner structures, turrets or bartizans, imitation of half-timbered masonries, point arched roofs, open Renaissance porticos with Tuscan arcades, monumental Renaissance staircases, Renaissance and Gothic consoles (=roof cornice ornamented with a curved out motive, for example small blind arches or corbels), Byzantine arcades and masonries, Byzantine and Gothic openings, Classical pediments, battlemented parapets or porticos, A frame roofs, and all these positioned in a variety of ground plans, sometimes in asymmetrical forms, imitating fortified buildings and imperial palaces. Into the Picturesque residences category we find more simple houses, which exude a sense of calmness. The most typical element for these buildings are perhaps the wooden elaborate structures of the cornices at the edge of the A frame roofs of the main body of the houses, and the roofs of the porticos. These residences are the closest type to European rural architecture.  

Atlantis villa (1897), architect Ernst Ziller. Symmetrical façade, Byzantine arcades, naked masonry, painting decoration inspired from Pompeii.

 Benakis residence (1900). A projected example of the Greek-Swiss style in Kifissia, close to European rural architecture. The elaborate wooden structure at the cornice is typical for this style.

The wooden elaborate structures are common and can be found at most of the residences in Kifissia, regardless of category, as well as some paintings in specific soft tones, positioned in friezes under the cornices of the roofs. Most of the Kifissian residences belong to a large scale architecture with great gardens around each one and easily can be characterized as “manor houses”.

Talking about the Greek or Balkan tradition which never found a position in Kifissia, it is worth saying that there are some newer constructions, belonging to the decades of the 60s or the 70s of the 20^th Century that used elements and forms from this type of architecture. It was when Greeks began to appreciate their tradition, disconnecting it from the Ottoman past. Unfortunately, only a few of these structures have artistic value.

Neogothic villa in Kifissia (1910-1919). The imposing corner tower includes the central staircase, a usual practice for the manor houses of the area.

Amaryllis villa, owned by the author and poet George Drosinis (last quarter of the 19^th Century). It stands very close to the Greek tradition, especially to the traditional architecture of the east Peloponnese and the island of Spetses.

The Kifissian residence was perhaps the result of a period without a safe ideological orientation, perhaps a transition period, even though a very interesting and romantic style flourished. The physiognomy of Kifissia began to change in the 50s due to the intense urbanization. It was the period that some substantial examples of this specific architectural style were demolished and some of the streets successively became busy boulevards. Nevertheless, today a large number of this type of residences survive and 143 of them have been characterized as listed buildings, considered as important examples of the local architecture of the period 1870 - 1936. The characterization has to do not only with the buildings but also with the preservation of the area physiognomy. It is worth noting that most of these stately houses are greatly preserved and are inhabited.

 Protopapadakis villa (1897). Neogothic style, with stepped roof, spires and pointed arched openings. Protopapadakis was ex-prime minister of Greece.

Neobyzantine villa (1915). A square tower was added to the L ground plan main body of the construction. It is built in almost cloisonné masonry with a Byzantine arcade in front of the open portico and Byzantine type openings. The building can be characterized as an interesting example of the Eclecticism style, comparing all the previous elements with a tower-dome inspired by the central European tradition.

Kassavetis tower (1910). Detail with typical elements of the Greek-Swiss style that flourished in Kifissia.

Zouras villa (1872). An imposing countryside building inspired by the Eclecticism that the Neoclassical style meets the Baroque style. The half-round staircase and the added tower underline the character of the villa.

Picturesque style building in Kifissia (end of the 19^th Century).

Picturesque style building, belonging to the Greek-Swiss style, part of the Greek Eclecticism.

Chloe villa (1897). It was owned by the ex-prime minister Alexander Diomedes.

Kazoulis villa (end of the 19th Century). The L ground plan villa is built in the Neoclassical style with elements of the Renaissance style, like the impressive dome. At the internal corner of the L ground plan, a square and a round part are added.

Neotraditional residence (possibly the decade of 60s or 70s), inspired by the urban Greek/Balkan traditional architecture.

Schinias Marathon National Park. Once the Great Marsh of Marathon

Text & images: Babis Pavlopoulos – iconstravel photography

(all the images come from the Schinias Marathon National Park)

Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus), the lord of the wetland during the winter months

The Attica prefecture belongs to these places in Greece in which nature has been extremely pressed by man, mainly due to the existence of the capital Athens. Nevertheless, nature has decided to resist, trying sometimes to surprise us.

Schinias National Park is a natural complex which consists of a coastal lagoon (3.5 Χ 25 klm) and a coastal forest (3.5 klm X 150-200 m), located close to Athens at the northeast part of the prefecture. It is one of the last wild life refuges remaining in the area, with a great ornithological interest. It is classed as a Special Protection Area (SPA) under the umbrella of Natura 2000. Throughout the whole natural park 245 species of birds have been observed and 320 species of plants have been recorded.

Whooper Swans (Cygnus cygnus), a rare presence in the marsh

The natural environment has gone through five evolutionary stages. It was originally formed as a shallow sea gulf, approximately 5.000 years ago, isolated by a sandy barrier to become a lagoon. Then the lagoon received partial inflows of water and sediment, either from the sea (saline water), or from the land (fresh water) that changed its environmental conditions.

Although, the marsh was severely harmed by older efforts to be drained and also by the construction of the Rowing centre for the Olympic Games of 2004, it still remains an important wetland, not only for the area close to Athens. Actually, it is all that remains of the Great Marsh of Marathon, as it was known in the antiquity. In this place a big number of Persian soldiers were drowned after the historical battle of Marathon between Athenians and Persians, in 490 B.C. In the past, people tried to drain it, digging a large central channel by which the water would run to the sea. However, the march continues to be seasonally recreated to large part, thanks to the winter rains and to the water of the Makaria spring, while in the summer, it almost dries. The Makaria spring water was also used for the working of the Rowing centre.

Views of the coastal wetland, classed as Special Protection Area (SPA) under the umbrella of Natura 2000 
The mixed ecosystem constists of the stone-pine forest, the lagoon, the beach, 
the gulf and the peninsula at the east

…flying to moon

The flora of the lagoon consists of Tamarisks as trees or bushes, reed-beds and other aquatic plants. Perhaps the marsh orchids are the most important of them.

The wetland is located below one of the bird migration routes, so its reed-beds are served as a shelter for a large number of aquatic and sea birds, but also for other species. The bird watchers can find, amongst others, the following species: Coot (Fulica atra), Moorhen(Gallinula chloropus), Eurasian Bittern (Botaurus stellaris), Little Bittern (Ixobrychus minutus), Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides), Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) , Great Egret (Casmerodius albus), Gray Heron (Ardea cinerea), Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea), Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis), Mute Swan (Cygnus olor), Whooper Swan (Cygnus Cygnus), Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), Shoveler (Anas clypeata), Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago), Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus), the rare Ferruginous Duck (Aythya nyroca), the endangered Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinelus), Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius), Redshank (Tringa tetanus), Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia), Water Pipit (Anthus spinoleta), several species of Gulls, Ruff (Philomachus pugnax), Hoopoe (Upupa epops), several species of Swallows, Skylark (Alauda arvensis), Yellow Wagtail (Motallica flava), Pied Wagtail (Motallica alba), Robin (Erithacus rubecula), Stonechat (Saxicola rubetra), Northern Wheater (Denanthe oenanthe), Blackbird (Tundus merula), Blackcup (Sylvia attricapilla), Sardinian Warbler (Sylvia melanocephala), Magpie (Pica pica), Sparrows etc. 

Birds of prey can also be found in the Park like Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus), Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus), Buzzard (Buteo buteo), Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo rufinus), Eurasian Hobby (Falco Subbuteo), Short-toed Snake-eagle (Circaetus gallicus), Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga) etc. 

Three species of mud turtles, frogs, snakes and grass snakes also live in the marsh. It is worth noting that close to Makaria spring an endemic fish lives, named Daska (Pelasgus marathonicus), which first recorded in 1921, and it is classed as endangered. The family of mammals is mainly represented by Foxes (Vulpes vulpes), Hedgehogs (Erinaceus concolor) and Beech Marten (Mertes foina), as well as other smaller species and bats.

Yellow Wagtail (Motallica flava)

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) during the mating season 

when the feathers on the back of the head are long

Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga), an impressive bird of prey with wide fingered wings

Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) in a vertical attack

Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo rufinus)

Between the marsh and the sea the coastal forest is located, which mainly consists of common pines and stone-pines (Pinus pinea). It is considered as a very important forest as it is one of the few such forests that survive in Greece. The neighbouring peninsula of Kynosoura, the sandy coast and the bottom of the gulf complete the whole ecosystem, creating the Schinias Marathon National Park. At the bottom of the gulf a sea plant with elongated, planar, green leaves which measure up to 1.5 m, named  Neptune-grass or Posidonia (Posidonia oceanica) can be found. 

The most appropriate period to visit the wetland is the period between December to June, when the area is wet, and holds large amounts of water. The area can be visited walking on the special paths or standing to the observatories. In any case, we have to be quiet, thinking that we are the guests to a home owned by other living creatures. Creatures that love their privacy very much.

Unfortunately the ecosystem does not survive under the best conditions, facing many problems, like pollution, incomplete surveillance, uncontrolled building and illegal hunting.

So, instead of it becoming an attraction for the surrounding area and an environmental education center, something extremely necessary for Attica, where the wildlife just whispers, the balance of the ecosystem is in increasing danger.  

Glossy Ibises (Plegadis falcinelus), the species is classed as endangered. 
They use the wetland for a few days as a resting place during the migration

Ferruginous Ducks (Aythya nyroca), also endangered species

Coots (Fulica atra)

Marsh Harriers (Circus aeruginosus) in several views
They glide showing V shaped wings hunting over the reed-beds

A male Marsh Harrier rising from the reed-bed with a smaller bird in its claws

Black-winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus)

Views of the wetland, different season, different colours

Juvenile Ruff (Philomachus pugnax)

Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago)

A Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) preparing its long wings

Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia) searching to feed in the mud

Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius), a small elegant bird

Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea) within a reed-bed, usually discreet

Stonechat (Saxicola rubetra)

Water Pipit (Anthus spinoleta), a very small bird

Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)

Robin (Erithacus rubecula) with a small fruit in its beak

“…find me, I am hidden…, search within the reeds”

Cobweb, the insects have their own kingdom in the wetland

Several species of Dragonflies (Anisoptera)

Grass snake

Mud turtle

Balkan green lizard (Lacerta trilineata)

March orchids

Flock of Shovelers (Anas clypeata) over the lagoon