Aristotle Zachus

Aristotle Zachos ( Greek Αριστοτέλης Ζάχος , * 1871 in Kastoria , † 1939 in Athens ) was a Greek architect and town planner from Macedonia .

Zachos studied architecture in Munich , Stuttgart and Karlsruhe . The student of Friedrich von Thiersch , Carl Schäfer and Josef Durm interrupted his studies in 1897 to volunteer in the Greco-Turkish war. After the end of the war he returned to Germany. His teacher Durm later made him his colleague and Zachos was involved in the construction of important public buildings, such as the Heidelberg University Library (1897-1905) and the grammar school in Freiburg (1900-1907).

In 1905 Zachos left Karlsruhe and returned to Greece. Together with his friend Nikolaos Pherekydis, an impressionist painter, he went on a tour of Greece. He photographed and drew Byzantine and post-Byzantine buildings, which were his main architectural interests. In 1911 he published an article on popular Greek architecture in the magazine The Artist . In 1913 he was commissioned by the Greek government to design a city map for Thessaloniki . From 1915 to 1917 Zachos was director of the technical authorities of Athens. During this time he also worked on city plans for the Peloponnesian city of Tripoli and for the city of Mytilene on Lesbos .

In 1918 he led the repair work for the parts of the Basilica of St. Demetrios in Thessaloniki that had been spared by the great fire of August 18, 1917. The Academy of Athens awarded him the highest medal for this work in 1933.

The Church of Saint Demetrios in Siatista

His extensive correspondence with his former teacher Josef Durm gives an instructive insight into his work at the beginning of the 20th century.

The most important works of Aristotle Zachos include:

• In the city of Volos : the Cathedral of St. Nikolaos; the Church of Saint Constantine; the Church of the Transfiguration of Christ (Metamorphosis).
• In the city of Ioannina (around 1930): the building of the National Bank of Greece; the Academy of Ioannina; the palace of the archbishopric; the Palace of the Metropolis; the theological seminary building "Bellas"; the Pallis family villa (demolished).
• The Church of Saint Demetrios in Siatista (1911).
• The Church of Saint Stylianos in Thessaloniki .
• P. Petychakis' villa in Athens (1934).
• The villa of Angelike Chatzimichail in Athens (1924), which now houses the Center for Folk Art and Tradition of the City of Athens.
• The conversion of the Palais Ilision in Athens into the Byzantine Museum (1930).
• The conversion of the Athenian villa of Dionysios P. Loverdos into a museum (1925).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Helen Fessas-Emmanouil: Aristoteles Zachos and Josef Durm. A German-Greek architectural friendship . In: "A somewhat bankrupt art institution ...". The old Karlsruhe school between Heinrich Hübsch and Josef Durm ( materials on building history 24). Karlsruhe 2017, pp. 178–212.

Web links

• Greek article on Aristotle Zachos