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Buildings
The Tower Of Rizoupolis
History
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The tower belonging to the Rizopoulos family, to Ioannis Rizopoulos {Ιωάννης Ριζόπουλος} the great landowner in fact, was built early in 1924 to plans drawn up by the Italian engineer M. Martinego. It was a two-storey building almost on the boundary of the present-day Municipality of Athens, at 154 Irakleous {Ηρακλέους} avenue, to be precise. The tower was known by the name of Villa Akrivi ({Ακριβή} = Precious), as inscribed on the main facade. The mother of the owner of the building, Ioannis Rizopoulos, was called Akrivi.
Ioannis Rizopoulos was born in the town of Pirgos ({Πύργος} = Tower), of the Ilia {Ηλεία} prefecture, in 1885. When he came to Athens in 1902, he was penniless, but by dint of hard work, combined with persistence and the gift of intelligence, he acquired a large estate of his own. He put his money to use and created the community of Rizopolis {Ριζόπολις}, which was named after him [Place Names]. It is worth noting that this area was perhaps one of the first areas of Athens to have electric lighting.
Eye witness accounts say that when the tower was built, the area was still a wilderness. Rizopoulos himself undertook the construction of roads, intially naming them after his six children (Petros {Πέτρος}, Angeliki {Αγγελική}, Theodoros {Θεόδωρος}, Nikolaos {Νικόλαος}, Georgios {Γεώργιος} and Elli {Έλλη}). The "Therion of Kifisia" [In Action] went by his house, just as the electric railway does today. A lot of important people visited the tower, Eleftherios Venizelos [People] being one of them.
Years passed and Ioannis Rizopoulos died. His children started families of their own and left the tower. The only person left was the man who had kept the cafe on the ground floor for more than half a century. He left too when the demolition of the tower was ordered following the 1999 earthquake.
Villa "Akrivi" between 1930 and 1940.
Source: "Athenian Neighbourhoods" {Αθηναϊκές Γειτονιές}, by Vasiliki Mandjorou {Βασιλική Μαντζώρου}, "The Young Greek" {Ο Μικρός Ρωμηός} Newspaper, Period D, Year 17th, Issue 83, February 2003, p. 4.
09-15-2003