“Rizodimos House” Portaria (~1910)

With the foundation of Volos around 1842, it is obvious that the vitality of the area acquired a new focus and Pelion begins to slowly lose its power. In the middle of the 19th century and shortly afterwards (especially with the opportunities that the American Civil War gave to Egyptian cotton), the successes of the Egyptians from Pelion resulted in a slowing down of its relatively declining course, as the wealth of the successful expatriates speaks to their ancestral villages.

One aspect of this dynamic is the appearance of Egyptian houses in Portaria and elsewhere. They no longer follow the traditional architecture of the region, but a new architecture, certainly influenced by international standards. Yannis Kizis in his book Pelion Building says that the first building to introduce the ‘colonial’ style in Pelion is the three-storey Tsopotou mansion in Portaria. Externally characteristic is the arched trilobo at the entrance. Not only is it different externally but especially internally in the layout of the rooms. Kizis reports that it was said that they were based on the designs of an Italian architect, but he disputes this rumor since the owners had close contacts not only with Egypt but with all of Europe. So they had certainly imprinted the urban organization of the spaces that had prevailed there. And he says “(Ultimately) it is not necessary to be present on site, nor even the plans of an ‘Italian architect’. Fashion was prompted by going through simpler channels.”

A similar house in Portaria was depicted by Aristotle Zachos’ camera in the photo shown here.
The note says it is the “Rizodimou House”.
And while the source [1] places the photo around 1920, the probability is that it is probably almost ten and a half years ago, (see related comment in a recent post [2].
The characteristic form of the entrance is the same at Kantartzi’s (Portaria and St. Lawrence) and Chatziargyris’ (Ally Meria).

PS. My dear friend Thanasis Germanos tells me that “the house of Rizodimos in Portaria is now owned by a private owner, it was a three-storey house but after the earthquakes they lowered one floor, and that it’s under the theatre”, and he didn’t know if there was another Rizodimos house. He even promised to look for more information. But I was impatient and
I was in a hurry to post this wonderful photo. My friend Loren Pici pointed out that it looks very much like the Tsopotou Mansion – now Despotiko, and while at first it seemed to me that he was right, a more detailed comparison shows that it is a different building. The search continues.
[1] Epirus, Thessaly, Macedonia, “Through the lens of Aristotle Zachos: 1915-1931”, Benaki Museum 2007.
[2] Post No. 1621 Mont Pelion sur fond de Ville de Volos (Nikolaos Ferekidis 1862-1929)