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.