Haidari Palace: The unknown history of the tower and the relationship with the Duchess of Plakentia and Otto

It is a landmark of the municipality of Haidari that dominates Athens Avenue, in its contribution to Stratarch Karaiskaki and tradition has connected it to the Duchess of Plakentia and King Otto. The Palataki was constructed during the first post-Panastika decades and is a typical example of an architectural romantic story with neogothic elements. Its main feature is the form of a fortress with ramparts, corner towers and narrow windows. CORVERSE The tower consists of two floors, which consist of elaborately decorated rooms, ceilings with imposing furniture, roof and semi-basement, where the kitchens and auxiliary spaces were once located. In place of these today is the Heidari Municipal Library. The small number of rooms indicates that the building was used as a cottage, a case that is also reinforced by the relatively long distance between Palataki and the center of Athens. In its courtyard were a hostel, stables, olive oil mill and all surrounded by flowers, olive groves and palm trees, a total area of 30 acres. Today the hostel is preserved, which is the so-called Nicholas Gyzis Building and the stables, where the refreshment is housed “The History”. CORVERSE The versions for rebuilding the Tower There are many versions about rebuilding the Tower. One version attributes its design and reconstruction to the French architect François Boulanger, whose buildings show several similarities to the Palataki. Queen Amalia allegedly asked the architect to follow as a model the Hohenschwangau Palace of Maximilian successor of Bavaria, Otto’s brother. The Basilissi Tower was inaugurated in August 1854. A second version wants as its creator the architect and city planner Stamatios Kleanthe, on order of Sophie de Marbois, also known as the Duchess of Plakentia. In fact, the Duchess seems to have been using the Palace for her secret meetings with the historian Daveli, according to legend of the time. The more detailed version states that the original owner of the Tower was Haidar Pasha, from whom he was named both the estate and the wider area. Based on the testimony of the militant Christos Byzantium, there was a garden with a tower inside it. Of course, this tower cannot be identified with Palataki, as the architectural structure of the second belongs to a later 1830 current. The romantic architectural rhythm became quite popular in the early years after the Revolution. Probably, the tower mentioned above, which existed in Haidari in 1826, was demolished to build the Palataki. With firmani, the house was purchased by Panayiotis and Anna Lazari and then passed on to the property of Nicholas Nazou, after his marriage to their daughter Penelope and remained in possession of the family until 1895, when he was seized. Nicholas Nazos, turned Palataki into an artistic center, where the great Greek painters Nikiforos Lytras and Nikolaos Gyzis frequented. Unrefutable traces of their presence there are the frescoes “The four seasons” of Nicholas Gyzis in the hostel, as well as frescoes of Lytras in the small church of Agios Georgios, which was within the boundaries of the farm. With the auction he came into the possession of Nicholas Thon, curator of the palaces on George I. In fact, the marble column of Charles Favieros, located in front of the entrance of the Tower, is an initiative of Than. In the early 20th century the Palataki passed on to the property of the shipowner Antonio Palios, who radically renovated it. In the context of this renovation it is assessed that the floor paintings of the halls were made, as was the inscription “Krisson Autumn of Iktimou” (Better to be jealous than to be sorry for you) above the fireplace of the first floor central hall. Some sources, still, want as owner of the Tower in the late 19th until the early 20th century the great estate George Fats. His marriage to Emilia Skouze resulted in the couple’s jurisdiction now, a large area of land from Agios Antonios Ambilis to today’s Athens Avenue, at the height of Palataki. During 1957-1971 the psychiatric clinic “Saint John” was housed in Palataki. At that time severe damage was caused inside the building. In 1979 Palataki and the surrounding area were declared a listed historical place, by decision of the Ministry of Culture. In 1985 he came to the property of the Municipality of Haidari. Since 1987 maintenance and restoration work has been carried out in its original form by the municipality of Haidari and the Ministry of Culture, with Melina Mercouri then minister and completed in 1993, and its furnishings have been done with late 19th-early 20th century style furniture. Today, at Palataki Tower the Municipality of Haidari is housed. Many events from the rich cultural activity of the municipality take place in the surrounding area.