Historical Background
The building of the Municipal Market of Karditsa was constructed between1925 and 1930 when the Mayor was Asterios Allamanis. The plans were at least a decade old, but the Municipality did not have the financial ability to support the project back then. The current building is one of the last projects of Hennebique Francois Coignet Company, which constructed countless buildings of concrete and glass throughout Europe. It is a revolutionary building for public use which was built during the early modern movement.
Asterios Allamanis – the cosmopolitan Mayor who brought the plans from Paris – wanted to erect this building as a sign of Europe in his city that had recently been liberated from the Turks. The building occupies the free space of the square in the heart of the commercial life of the city. With the passage of time, the glory of the building started declining and was in need of maintenance. In 1987 (sixty years or so after its construction), the City Council and Mayor Dimitrios Archontis announced the Panhellenic Architectural Competition for the restoration of the building. Thus, the building which "came from Europe" now became a “restored monument of European heritage”
The building
- It is a 55 sq. m. square building
- It is 18 m. high
- It is shaped like a pyramid
- Its ground floor is 5.90 m. high
- There is a perimeter walkway
- There is a skylight on the roof
- The roof is made of metal and glass
- The columns, beams and slabs are made of concrete.
European award
The building is one of the 40 (out of a thousand proposals) which were accepted by the Experimental Plan for the conservation and the promotion of European Community's Architectural Heritage in 1992.
The committee consisted of architects who met in Brussels and decided that that the building of the Municipal Market of Karditsa deserves to be restored and preserved.
Mayor Athanasios Kadartzis attended the special ceremony that took place in the City Hall of Brussels in December 1922 and received an award that certifies the declaration of the building as a European Architectural Heritage Monument.
Source: www.karditsa-net.gr
