Casa Bianca or Villa Fernandez is the name of a famous mansion in the city 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 Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

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 with ...

. It is located in Vassilisis Olgas street and was built between 1911 and 1913 as a residence for Dino Fernandez Diaz and his family. The architect was Pietro Arrigoni (variously also spelled: Piero/Pierro Arigon/Arrigon/Arigoni).German Wikipedia article :de:Pierro Arrigoni Of

Sephardi Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

(Spanish) Jewish origin, Fernandez was a wealthy merchant and industrialist of the city. The building passed to his daughter, where she lived with her Christian husband, and was later confiscated and used by the Germans during the Axis occupation of Greece. To escape from the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

, Dino Fernandez Diaz, with other members of his family, fled to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, but they were murdered in 1943 by the German SS near

Como Lake Lake Como ( it, Lago di Como , ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh de Còmm , ''Cómm'' or ''Cùmm'' ), also known as Lario (; after the la, Larius Lacus), is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the thir ...

. The building has elements of eclecticist architecture, like many other buildings of that period in the city. Since 2013 it houses the

Municipal Art Gallery An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. Although primarily conc ...

References

Sources

*''Casa Bianca -Η ζωή στη Θεσσαλονίκη γύρω στα 1900/Το αρχοντικό του Dino Fernandez Diaz- Ιστορική σκιαγραφία και μελέτη αναστηλώσεως, του Ν.Κ.Μουτσόπουλου, Θεσσαλονίκη 1998'' * Casa Bianca
History of a building
on the internet page of the City of Thessaloniki {{coord, 40.5965, 22.9557, type:landmark_region:GR, display=title Museums in Thessaloniki Buildings and structures in Thessaloniki Eclectic architecture Eclectic architecture in Greece Jews and Judaism in Thessaloniki