Among those historical buildings of the old flower market around Aghias Irinis square there is one impressive 3 storey neoclassical mansion, built and designed by the famous German Architect Ernst Ziller during 1893.
This mansion on Aghias Irinis square was built as a home the Karagiannis’ family and it was a two storey building in the beginning. Karagiannis’ family bought the land from the previous Turkish owner signing the traditional contract “hotzeti” (all those Turkish contracts were recognized as legal acts by the first Greek king Otto). Ziller designed the building according to the neoclassical architecture. One of the most characteristic details of his style are the stairs; they are always marble and embedded on the walls, they give a kind of theatrical allure in the whole construction, even in narrow spaces.
Stones from the Acropolis area were used at the basement and the ground floor of the older building. A third floor was added at 1930 and after that time the mansion was rented to function as a hotel named “Park”. It was quite a popular hotel in Athens center, especially among the members of the Greek parliament, who came in
Athens from provincial regions of the country.
This hotel was their home in Athens and all of their rooms had telephones; a rarity of that time. The ground floor of the mansion was housing textile stores, most of them owned by members of the Jewish community of Athens. Some stories say that the basements of the Karagiannis mansion used to be a refuge for those Jews during the German Occupation of Athens (1941-1944) and the Jewish pogroms of that era.
The hotel “Park” was in use during World War II and did not suffered of any damages. It was in business till 1965-66. After that period the mansion was rented to textile merchants who imported textiles from Brazil.
Due to some new laws during the 1980’s the textile market around Eolou street and Aghias Irinis square started to be disrupted. After 1990 and through the last decade of the 20t h century most of the old textile warehouses and shops closed forever…
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The building is a fine example of the neoclassical architecture and it is very well preserved today, keeping the authentic atmosphere of the old square.
