Villa Allatini ( el, Βίλλα Αλλατίνι) is a three-storey baroque building on Vasilissis Olgas Avenue in the area of

Depot Depot ( or ) may refer to: Places * Depot, Poland, a village * Depot Island, Kemp Land, Antarctica * Depot Island, Victoria Land, Antarctica * Depot Island Formation, Greenland Brands and enterprises * Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in ...

in the east of the Municipality of Thessaloniki,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. It was constructed in 1898 when Thessaloniki was part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

History

It was built in 1898 by the Italian architect

Vitaliano Poselli Vitaliano Poselli (1838–1918) was an Italian architect from Sicily, mostly known for his work in the city of Thessaloniki in northern Greece. Life He was born in Castiglione di Sicilia in 1838, and studied in Rome. In 1867, the Catholic Church ...

, who also designed the Mills of Allatini that were founded in 1890, and the head office of Allatini-affiliated Banque de Salonique in downtown Thessaloniki. At that time the region where the villa is located was called the district of "Countrysides" (des Campagnes) or "Towers", and was the easternmost limit of

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

. In the first period of its use, the villa was the countryside residence of the Salonica Jewish Allatini family. After the emergence of the Young Turks movement, from 1909 until 1911 it was used as the residence of the sultan Abdul Hamid II, who after his unseating by the Young Turks lived there under house arrest. In 1926 it housed the Philosophical School for one year, the unique department of the newly founded

University of Thessaloniki A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, while during the

Greco-Italian War The Greco-Italian War (Greek: Ελληνοϊταλικός Πόλεμος, ''Ellinoïtalikós Pólemos''), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian Campaign in Greece, and the War of '40 in Greece, took place between the kingdoms of Italy and G ...

(1940-1941) it was used as a hospital. From 1979 the Prefecture of Thessaloniki had its headquarters in Villa Allatini. In 2011 after the implementation of the

Kallikratis Plan The Kallikratis Programme ( el, Πρόγραμμα Καλλικράτης, Prógramma Kallikrátis) is the common name of Greek law 3852/2010 of 2010, a major administrative reform in Greece. It brought about the second major reform of the coun ...

, the prefecture was abolished and replaced by regional self-governing bodies. Today Villa Allatini houses the administration of the region of

Central Macedonia Central Macedonia ( el, Κεντρική Μακεδονία, Kentrikí Makedonía, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece, consisting of the central part of the geographical and historical region of Macedonia. With a populat ...

References

{{Ottoman monuments of Thessaloniki Buildings and structures in Thessaloniki Eclectic architecture in Greece Jews and Judaism in Thessaloniki Buildings and structures completed in 1898

History

See also

References