The History of Kalmar Castle

A little bit of more history on Kalmar and it's impresive Castle.

Throughout the ages Kalmar Castle has been a focal point of dramatic historical events in northern Europe. With its location near the south coast the castle has been embroiled in a number of military skirmishes but is also noted for being the site of peaceful cooperation, significant both politically and economically to the nation. As a collection point for tax paid in kind the castle has also served as a larder visited by both king and royal court.
The Defence Tower

Kalmar Sound was in earlier times a thoroughfare for seafarers frequented in the transportation of people as well as livestock and trade goods. Along the southern coast of Småland where the sound is most narrow there were many natural harbours. These harbours can be described as rock formations surrounded by water; the term that is believed to refer to them, and from which the name of the sound is derived is “kalm”. Next to the harbour a significant centre of commerce developed as early as the 12th century.

According to the Islandic poet Snorre Sturlason, King Sigurd Jorsalafarare moored his fleet in Kalmar in the year 1123 and travelled inland to convert the population of Småland to Christianity, a crusade which became known as “Kalmare ledung.” The Christian faith had not yet been widely accepted in what was to become the Kingdom of Sweden. During the 12th century all of Sweden became Christianized and a monarchy with more distinct contours emerged. In various places throughout the Kingdom fortifications were constructed from which the central power administered the collection of taxes, a bailiff being the representative for the monarchy. Cities were built and developed into centres of commerce and this provided the King with tax revenue.

The latter part of the 12th century was a tumultuous period in the north. The eastern seaboard was often subjected to enemy artillery from, among others, the expansive Danes as well as fleets of pirates from pagan areas in the east and southeast. Estlanders, Karelians, and others carried out raids and looted all along the Swedish coast. In defence against these raids various types of fortifications were built in strategic places. Another quite usual type of defence fortification was an individual stone tower, usually with either round or square levels. These watchtowers and coastal bulwarks were generally surrounded by other constructions such as wooden palisades and moats. They were most advantageously placed at the mouth of important waterways. Many of the existing defence towers are well known and have been more or less restored, such as the square tower which grew into becoming “Nyköpingshus” at the mouth of the Nyköping river. Yet another tower was erected at Stegeborg blocking the entranceway to Söderköping. During the 13th century the foundation was laid for a defence tower for the protection of Mälaren. The tower later served as the ‘core’ of Stockholm Castle which was constructed on a promontory in the southernmost part of the harbour area. A similar defence tower was built in the countryside on the island of Öland where the ruins of Borgholm Castle stand today. The system of defence also included a number of fortified churches on both sides of Kalmar Sound. On the mainland notable churches of this type are those in Hossmo, Hagby, Voxtorp south of Kalmar and Kläckeberga Church in the north.

The Medieval Castle
The city of Kalmar evolved in the 13th century on the mainland west of the castle. Over the course of the century the importance of the city increased and it soon included convent, mint, and ring-wall.

In Kalmar Castle there resided at this time a judge named Magnus Bengtsson of the Folkunga lineage. In a letter to the bailiff and councillor of Lubeck he names himself “prefectus Kalmarnensis”. The letter is sealed with the oldest official seal in the north and with the words “Sigillum inhabitantium Kalmarniam” (the seal of the inhabitants of Kalmar). The seal depicts a crenulated tower that rises out of the water; it may in fact be the earlier reputed defence tower. Kalmar was at this time period and throughout medieval times one of the foremost commercial cities with lively connections to Lubeck and other Hansa cities on the Baltic Sea.

Due to its geographic location Kalmar was often chosen as the meeting place for political negotiations. In the summer of 1266 one such meeting took place. A papal legate, Cardinal Guido, was received by Birger Jarl and his sons as well as a great number of church and secular leaders. The negotiations were principally about Swedish conditions as concerns church and state. A hundred years later, in the midst of raging war with Denmark, Magnus Ladulås celebrated his wedding to Helvig av Holstein on the 10th of November 1276 in Kalmar.

During the reign of Magnus Ladulås (1275-1290) work was begun on the modern day castle surrounding the old defence tower. The new castle was to replace the rather primitive castle dating from the 12th century. Both the defence tower and the stone building from the 12th century were left within the castle walls. The ring-wall of the castle enclosed an irregular square courtyard with round towers in each corner. At the western section of the ring-wall the square “Kuretornet” was built and became the strongest section of the castle comprising living quarters, concealed apartment, annex and main entrance to the castle. Along the northern ring-wall two housing sections were erected, “Salsbyggnaden and “Frustugan”. In front of the castle facing the town there was an outer wall called “Svenemuren”.

The new castle was built wholly of limestone which had been transported across the sound from Öland. The stone in the facades was either dressed or chiselled using a mattock. The details, among other things the door, window frames and tracery were carefully chiselled. The castle and the town were from the standpoint of defence to be considered as a unified front so that the town with its ring-wall and towers was an outer fortification of the castle. An enemy had in this way first to conquer the town before the castle itself could be overtaken since the only way to access the castle was from the town. The exception to this would have been if there had been ice around the castle in winter.


The earlier medieval castle was, when completed, Sweden’s strongest fortification. At the same time it was not only the strongest defence post in all of Sweden but also the strongest in the entire northern region. It is evident with regard to the extent of the work carried out, the sophistication of building techniques which characterize the castle, and the attention to detail that it was both planned and constructed in a period of great national economic wealth. The reign of Magnus Ladulås was a period of such wealth which gives one reason to believe that construction was begun at the end of the 13th century, in the 1280s to be more exact. With regard to the amount of stone that had to be transported from Öland quite some time must have passed before completion. Work must therefore have continued well into the reign of Tyrgyl Knutsson and his regency government and reached completion around the year 1300. During the skirmishes between King Birger and his brothers, the Counts Erik and Valdemar at the beginning of the 14th century the castle was of great strategic importance. Count Erik succeeded in taking over the castle through compromise and when terms were agreed upon between the King and the Counts on the 3rd of March 1308 the castle was already in Count Erik’s control.


The Union Period

Medieval fortifications were as a rule often rebuilt and Kalmar Castle was no exception. The ring-wall and towers were however left intact for centuries. New houses were built inside the ring-wall and during the 14th century the castle courtyard was extended along the southern ring-wall to include an outer section which came to be known as “Bagaregården”.

Kalmar Castle was during medieval times frequently visited by royal personages. King Magnus Eriksson and his queen, Blanka av Namur stayed there often. In the year 1336 Magnus declared the castle “our mightiest house” and was obliged to pawn it in order to pay the sum of 34 000 silver marks as compensation to Count Johan and Count Gerhard av Holstein after the capitulation of Skåne in 1332 to the Swedish King.

At the end of the 1350s the name of Bo Jonsson Grip began to figure among the nation’s most powerful men. He had close ties to King Magnus Eriksson and in 1359 became lord of Kalmar Castle as well as the nation’s most powerful war lord in his capacity as Lord High Constable. Bo Jonsson Grip became one of the most significant landowners of all times. His wealth was however built upon rather dubious tactics and inheritance.

The most important event at the castle in medieval times had a woman at the helm. On the 17th of June 1397 the Danish born Queen Margareta, daughter of Valdemar Atterdag and widow of King Håkon saw the crowning of her nephew Erik av Pommern as King of Sweden, Norway and Denmark. At the meeting in Kalmar a coronation letter was issued in which King Erik was praised. A much discussed Union document was also issued in which the conditions for the Union were established. The Kalmar Union was a union of all three countries under the same regent and with unified foreign policy. If a subject was accused and declared an outlaw he would have the same status in any one of the three countries. In other matters the laws of each country applied separately. Despite the fact that Erik av Pommern was crowned King, the Union was nevertheless ruled by his foster mother, Queen Margareta, until her death in 1412. During the 1400s Kalmar Castle was to be the venue for many important meetings of the Union.

Extraordinary taxation and decommissioning of soldiers were just two causes of general discontent within the Kalmar Union which nevertheless increased its power during the 15th century. The latter part of the century is characterized by political anarchy and a number of Union skirmishes between Sweden and Denmark. Kalmar Castle fell alternately into the hands of both Swedes and Danes until the end of the Union when Sweden gained sovereignty under the rule of Gustav Eriksson Vasa.

The Vasa period

When Gustav Eriksson Vasa became King in 1523 and took over Kalmar Castle it had been ravaged by war and as a fortress it was outdated. In renovating the castle technical expertise had to be enlisted beyond Sweden’s borders to ensure defence against improved types of artillery. Due to lack of funds and materials as well as a lack of qualified labourers only a limited amount of work could be carried out in the first few years. It was not until the 1540s that a reconstruction period could begin and work continued on and off during most of the latter part of the 16th century. Kalmar Castle was in this process transformed from a medieval castle to a Renaissance castle.

In the year 1542 a peasant revolt, the so called “Dacke revolt” broke out and initially Nils Dacke and his cohorts were quite successful. During the year 1543 Kalmar was under siege and blocked both by land and by sea, but Gustav managed during the period to triumph over his opponents and regain power. The “Dackefejd” served as a lesson to Gustav Vasa who thereafter increased efforts to protect both town and castle from attack.

The castle was given a new fortified moat in front of the western façade with a canon tower, a so called “postej” at each end. These fortifications were in main completed by 1553. During the reign of Erik XIV and Johan III further expansion of security was implemented with moats north and south of the castle. The work was completed finally in the first decade of the 17th century with yet another moat and two corner posts on the eastern side.

Kalmar Castle is from several points of view a monument which is symbolic of the late 16th century Renaissance in Sweden. In the year 1553 Gustav Vasa Richter from Freiberg was engaged as building master at Kalmar Castle. Richter was active at the castle until his death in 1571. Richter was a key figure in the transformation of the castle into a Renaissance castle of continental ranking. He was as artistic leader open to Italian influences as exemplified by the roman portals, the originals of which are to be found in Sebastian Serlios book “Regole Generali di Architettura”, first published in 1537.

After the death of Richter Johan III employed the Italian architect Johan Baptista Phar who had previously been building master at the royal court of Duke Johan Albrecht av Mecklenberg-Schwerin. His two brothers Dominicus and Franciscus accompanied him to Sweden as they also were architects.

In the beginning of the 1570s Johan Baptista Phar developed, together with Johan III, a comprehensive building plan for Kalmar Castle. Johan III had a keen interest in architecture and the basic idea of the plan was to embody the symmetry and the regularity of Renaissance ideals; the King was for example discontented with the windows in the castle “which with archways constructed are” and ordered that they should be made square “in architectural manner”. The King also required the outer walls of the castle to be white as marble and the roof red. After a conflict with the governor of the castle, Arvid Svan, Johan B P left his post at in 1574. His successor was his own brother Dominicus Phar who completed the work that Johan had begun. Dominicus remained at the castle as building master until his death in 1602.

The Period of Power

A period of war began again at the end of the 16th century. During the Kalmar War 1611-13 the castle was repeatedly subjected to ambush and fell into the hands of the Danish through capitulation in August of 1611. The city was burned to the ground. Both the city and the castle were however restored during the reign of Gustav II Adolf, but planning had begun to relocate the city further from the castle. When a fire began anew in 1647, this time through carelessness relocation was the inevitable result. The new city grew in size on Kvarnholmen with a strictly geometric network of streets protected by strong fortifications. Moving the city took many years and the old embattlements remained until the end of the 1670s.

The Period of Decline


When the Swedish national border was moved to Öresund the period of glory for Kalmar Castle was over; no longer did the castle hold the key position it had once held. During the 17th and 18th centuries the castle was visited sporadically by royalty. Until 1676 when the residence on Kvarnholmen was completed the castle served as the residence of the county governor and was the seat of the county administrative board. After this a period of decline began. The strongest bulwark and the stately castle of the Vasa period became in the 18th century a crown storehouse, a crown jail and for a few years under Gustaf III a crown distillery. The distillery which did not prove lucrative was closed down in 1787 but regrettably not before it had caused damage to the castle. A period of continued decline followed in the 19th century, the “postej” were but rubble and livestock grazed on the embankments. In 1852 the new prison in the city was completed and there was no longer a need to house prisoners in the castle. At this time there was a renewed interest in the historical value of the castle and restoration began in the 1850s.

During the 20th century comprehensive restoration combined with research and has uncovered the history of construction at the castle and as far as possible the castle has been restored to its former glory. In order to survive the wages of age, Kalmar Castle, one of Sweden’s most important historical landmarks requires continuous renovation.

(source:web)

History: Public Baths and Bathing

Bathing was an important part of many ancient cultures, as evidenced by religious rules surrounding bathing in all the major religions. The Jewish mikvah and Muslim hammam, for example, were essentially public baths that were part of religious ritual cleanliness. But these had their secular counterparts.

2 A female hammam painted by Jean-Jacques-Francois Lebarbier in 1785; keep in mind that he was seeing the Turkish custom from a distinctly Western viewpoint, so we can't really take this painting as a historical document.

In ancient Greece and Rome, public baths were not only the norm, but one of the centers of public life. Typically, one would go to the bathhouse, get rubbed down with olive oil, exercise in the attached gym, then scrape the sweat, dirt and oil off with a special tool before soaking in the waters and then maybe getting a massage. Well-to-do people brought their slaves, who would carry their bathing implements, help wash them, and watch their things for them while they bathed, which could take a while. You didn't only work out and bathe at the Roman bath — you could also buy medical treatment like bleeding, a shave and a haircut (the barber was also the surgeon, until just a few centuries ago), food and wine, books, entertainment, and, of course, sex. People would stay there for hours, even all day.

1 A medieval illumination of a public bath, with men and women enjoying a dinner party in the tub, and the nearby beds suggest that this is also a brothel.

Contrary to popular myths about the filthy medieval citizen, bathing was still very much de rigueur during the Dark and Middle Ages. Public baths still existed, despite growing disapproval from the church, which objected to co-ed bathing and, obviously, the sex and prostitution that could go along with that. But the bath was still a social event, and there are several medieval images of people hanging out in a big pool and having dinner or drinks and enjoying entertainments.

The Baths at Leuk by Hans Bock the Elder (1550-1624), in the Basel Kunstmuseum

By the Renaissance, the public baths had more or less died out in Western Europe, due largely to the Black Plague, which people thought you would catch more easily if your pores were opened from bathing. Dirt was seen as protecting against germs, while water was thought to be unsanitary (which it often could be). Regular bathing wasn't linked to health in Western Europe again until the early 19th century, by which point private bathing was more the norm.

In the rest of Europe, though, public baths remained popular through the Renaissance, and bathing could be surprisingly frequent, even several times a day. Religious rules and social mores meant that many baths kept the sexes separate, as we can see in two 15th-century Dürer engravings (above). But this was not always the case.

 The Women's bath sketch (1496) and the Men's Bath engraving (1497), both by Albrecht Dürer, show sex-segregated bathing.

Non-Western cultures held onto their public bath tradition, as well. The public bath is still an important aspect of traditional Japanese culture, where bathing first became paramount in the 6th century during the rise of Buddhism. Japanese baths were historically communal, with men and women bathing together, but the resulting sexual activity led to laws keeping the sexes separate.

A separate category might be the sweat bath, or sauna, which is an age-old tradition in Scandinavia and across Asia. From what I've read, historians are unsure where this tradition began, since there are historical links between Finland and Asia, so it's hard to say which culture introduced saunas to the other. There were also sweat lodges in Native American cultures.

  A Japanese women's bath, via mybathhouse.com.

In the United States around the turn of the 20th century, it was a progressive move for a city to build public baths. The words of an 1897 editorial in a Brooklyn newspaper make public baths a moral imperative:

it is a duty of the public, as its own government, to educate [the poor] out of their condition, to give baths to them that they may be fit to associate together and with others without offense and without danger. A man cannot truly respect himself who is dirty. Stimulate the habit of cleanliness and we increase the safety of our cities. And give over the idea that a free bath is any more of a "gratuity" than the right to walk in the public streets.  

We can't really discuss public baths in New York City without mentioning the rise of gay bathhouses in the 20th century. This is not to say that gay baths did not exist before 1900 — there are records of gay bathhouses and homosexual activity within bathhouses dating from at least the 15th century across Europe. And of course in the ancient world, homosexual activity would have been a natural part of the bathhouse experience for many. But with the gay liberation movement in the 1960s and '70s, gay-only bathhouses popped up around the city. Bette Midler famously got her start singing at these bathhouses, accompanied by a towel-wearing Barry Manilow on the piano.

A few famous (non-gay — though I'm sure those still exist, too) public baths still exist around New York, mostly in the Russian and Turkish traditions (which of course bear several similarities to the ancient Greek and Roman traditions). There are the Russian & Turkish baths on 10th and A and Brooklyn Banya (also a Russian/Turkish combo) near Prospect Park. There's also Spa Castle in Flushing, a Korean-owned combination of Asian-style saunas and European-style spas.


 by anna hoffman/  apartmenttherapy

Istanbul

Istanbul historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople, it is the largest city in Turkey and 3rd largest city proper in the world with a population of 13 million !

It is located on the Bosphorus Strait and encompasses the natural harbour known as the Golden Horn, in the northwest of the country. It extends both on the European (Thrace) and on the Asian (Anatolia) sides of the Bosphorus, and is thereby the only metropolis in the world that is situated on two continents.

Istanbul had previously served as the capital of the Roman Empire (330–c.395), Byzantine Empire (c.395–1204 & 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). Thereafter, the new Republic of Turkey, moved their capital to Ankara during the Turkish War of Independence.

Byzantium (Greek: Βυζάντιον, Byzántion) is the first known name of the city. Around 660 BC,Greek settlers from the city-state of Megara founded a Doric colony on the present-day Istanbul, and named the new colony after their king, Byzas. After Constantine I (Constantine the Great) made the city the new eastern capital of the Roman Empire in 330 AD, the city became widely known as Constantinopolis or Constantinople, which, as the Latinised form of "Κωνσταντινούπολις" (Kōnstantinoúpolis), means the "City of Constantine".

Etymologically, the name "İstanbul" (Turkish pronunciation: [isˈtanbuɫ], colloquially [ɯsˈtambuɫ]) derives from the Medieval Greek phrase "εἰς τὴν Πόλιν" [is tin ˈpolin] or, in the Aegean dialect, "εἰς τὰν Πόλιν" [is tan ˈpolin] (Modern Greek "στην Πόλη" [stin ˈpoli]), which means "in the city" or "to the city".

Wiki

Acropolis through time...

Many of you have maybe visited Athens and Acropolis, today the ancient world is co-existing with the modern world of Athens, but how was it 100 years ago? It's amazing how much the city has changed in such sort time, below are some paintings of Acropolis from just a few foreign travellers that came to Greece in the 19th century.

Jacques Carrey  1674

Painting by Johann Michael Wittmer 1833

by Christopher Wordsworth 1837

Dodwell 1821

1869

Jean Nicolas Henri de Chacaton 1813-1857, Thiseio area near Acropolis.

Noel Paymal Lerebours 1842

Stebbing 1847

Theodore du Moncel 1845

Wittmer, temple of Zeus 1833

Το Δημοτικό Θέατρο της Αθήνας?

Όλοι οι δήμοι βόρεια, νότια, παντού έχουν, κι η Αθήνα τίποτα, δεν έχει Δημοτικό Θέατρο. Κάπως ντροπή, ακόμα μεγαλύτερη γιατί κάποτε είχε, του Τσίλερ μάλιστα, στην σημερινή Πλατεία Κοτζιά, Δημαρχείου. 'Η Λουδοβίκου όπως λεγόταν η Πλατεία το 1856 όταν αποφασίστηκε ότι η Αθήνα μια ευρωπαϊκή πρωτεύουσα πια, είναι ντροπή να μην έχει Δημοτικό Θέατρο.
Και πως αλλιώς να ξεκινά το στόρυ; Με νεοελληνικές μηχανορραφίες φυσικά: ο Γρ. Καμπούρογλου αναλαμβάνει τα έξοδα της ανέγερσης, δώστε μου θα το χτίσω εγώ, πράγμα όμως που δεν ερχόταν σε ευθεία αντίθεση με τα συμφέροντα με το θεατρώνη της εποχής του Μπούκουρα, του μοναδικού που υπήρχε τότε στην Αθήνα. Λύσσαξε, πως αλλιώς με τέτοιο όνομα, ο Μπούκουρας και επί 5 χρόνια κυνήγησε με δικαστήρια και αστυνομίες τον Καμπούρογλου ώσπου ο τελευταίος μπάφιασε, έμεινε ταπί και τα παράτησε.

Έπειτα από 15 χρόνια, κι έχουμε νέα απόπειρα να ξεκινήσουν έργα, σε σχέδια Τσίλλερ αυτή τη φορά, προχωράνε φουριόζικα, μα κάτι γίνεται μετά από 2 χρόνια και τα έργα ξαναπαγώνουν, ελλείψει πόρων.
Ξανά μανά: περνούν 14 χρόνια με το έργο να στέκεται ημιτελές, φανταστείτε αρνητικό vibe που θα εισέπραξε αυτό το το κτίριο, όχι τυχαία η μοίρα του. Το 1887 λοιπόν, ο Ανδρέας Συγγρός προσφέρεται να ανεγείρει πλήρως το θέατρο. Ευεργέτης μεν την τσέπη του την κοιτούσε, έβαλε στον Τσίλλερ τους όρους του: το ισόγειο να στεγάζει καταστήματα και στον πρώτο όροφο να βάλει την τράπεζά του. Ο Ερνέστος που καημό το χε να δει ολοκληρωμένο το έργο του, δέχεται τους όρους, που αποβαίνουν σε βάρος των τεχνικών προδιαγραφών του θεάτρου: η σκηνή έχει μόλις 12.5 μέτρα βάθος, ενώ οι βοηθητικοί χώροι σχεδόν ανύπαρκτοι. Κάτι καλό που χε πάντως το θέατρο ήταν η καλή ακουστική και οι καλές συνθήκες θέας, και χωρητικότητα 1500 θέσεις. Σαν χωροθεσία το κτίριο είχε την κεντρική είσοδο στην Αιόλου μ' ένα κηπάκι μπροστά, κοίταζε προς την Εθνική Τράπεζα, και έπεφτε βαριά η πίσω όψη του στην Αθηνάς.

Ένα χρόνο μετά εγκαινιάζεται επιτέλους το Δημοτικό Θέατρο και φιλοξενεί θιάσους κατά βάσει απ' την Ευρώπη, σε πρόζα και όπερα και λοιπά φράγκικα που τόσο λαχταρούσε η ανερχόμενη αστική τάξη. Κουτσά-στραβά η Αθήνα είχε αποκτήσει Δημοτικό Θέατρο. Κουτσά όμως γιατί απ' τη μια δεν βοηθούσε η ακατάλληλη σκηνή, δεν υπήρχε κεντρική θέρμανση, ούτε εξαερισμός. Έτσι το θέατρο, έχοντας και σαν ανταγωνιστή το λαμπρό νέο Εθνικό Θέατρο της Αγίου Κωνσταντίνου (1901) πέφτει σε μαρασμό, ο εξοπλισμός του δε αφαιρείται συστηματικά από αετονύχηδες.

Τόσο απαξιωμένο δε σαν θέατρο, συν τις έκτακτες ανάγκες του Ελληνικού κράτους, κι έτσι αποφασίζεται το 1922 να λειτουργήσει σαν χώρος φιλοξενίας 1.500 Μικρασιατών προσφύγων, οι οποίοι τον χειμώνα για να αντιμετωπίσουν το κρύο έκαιγαν σε φουφούδες τα σκηνικά και έπιπλα.

Το 1929 απογυμνωμένο πια, κι αποτελώντας κάτι σαν ερείπιο στην καρδιά της πόλης, αποφασίζεται να ανακαινιστεί εκ βάθρων (κατάργηση των μαγαζιών, περισσότεροι χώροι για την λειτουργία του Θεάτρου) απ' τον φιλόδοξο Σπ. Μερκούρη μόνο που το ταμείο του Δήμου ήταν άδειο.
Σαν ρημαδιό έστεκε εκεί, τόσο που χαλούσε την αισθητική του Διοικητή της Εθνικής Τράπεζας που έπινε τον καφέ του απέναντι και πρώτος ρίχνει την ιδέα να κατεδαφιστεί. Κάποιοι αντιδρούνε, ακόμα και αρχιτέκτονες που δεν το θεωρούσαν σπουδαίο κτίριο, αλλά βρισκόμαστε στα 30s, ο μοντερνισμός, άρτι αφιχθείς απ' την Ευρώπη, καλπάζει και μαγεύει τους άρχοντες, που το κτίριο στα μάτια τους μοιάζει σαν μια γιγαντιαία παράγκα.
Τον Απρίλη του 1939, επί δικτατορίας του Μεταξά, ο τότε Δήμαρχος της Αθήνας Κώστας Κοτζιάς με συνοπτικές διαδικασίες το κατεδαφίζει.

Ξεκίνησε λοιπόν στραβά κι ίσως δεν μπορούσε να τελειώσει αλλιώς. Ίσως να ήταν καταραμένο το σημείο, ίσως και να' ναι, έκτοτε η Πλατεία Κοτζιά δεν γνώρισε ποτέ δόξες, πάντα βρισκόταν στην σκιά της Ομόνοιας, και των άλλων πλατειών στο κέντρο. Ακόμα και σήμερα που μάλλον, ιδίως το βράδυ, είναι η πιο όμορφη της Αθήνας δεν έχει την ενέργεια, την ζωντάνια που θα μπορούσε. Κάτι σαν no mans land, σαν σημείο προσπέρασης.
Και σε μας τους σύγχρονους Αθηναίους έμεινε το μέγα ερώτημα; τελικά τι έκανε ο Κοτζιάς; Στέρησε απ' την πόλη ένα όμορφο κτίριο, ή εν αγνοία του χάρισε στο σήμερα ένα σημείο ανοικτό στην τσιμεντένια πόλη./ athensville

Ernesto Ziller and Athens

Many beautiful buildings in Athens from the 19th century are a result of Ernesto Zillers work who lived many years in Greece as an architect. Though unfortunatly most of them have not survived.

At the National Gallery of Athens (Pinakothiki) there are many drawings of buildings and villas that Ziller made and projects that he never completed or even started. It is an exhibition that show another Athens, the Athens of the past, everybody should see it.

Take a very small taste from the pictures that follow.

Likavitos,Athens

A proposal of the architect Ernesto Chiller for the mountain of Likavitos.

The detail in the first picture show the monument that

was supposed to be built on the top of the mountain.

(Today a church and a restaurant are on the top.)

The academy in Athens, behind is the mountain of Lykavitos.

View over Athens in the early 1800.

Another view of Athens and the mountain of Lykavitos.

Chiller with his wife in the photograph, next to the right of that is his passport and a little drawing of him.

Easter Island

One of the first photographs taken on the island when they still hadn't discovered all it's glorious statues...