At the corner of Panepistimiou and Harilaou Trikoupi streets stood a strange house unlike any other. It was the work of Stamatis Cleanthi. It had a deep pitched tiled roof, and although it only had two stories, it attracted attention, perhaps because it was unusual. This house has not existed for over 60 years. In its place is an office building in a classic modern style, already shrouded in the patina of time.

When the building Kleanthis had built for his Bavarian friend and business partner Wertheim was demolished, few noticed his absence. It was a time when the landscape of 19th century Athens was changing, and with it the beautiful vistas of neoclassical houses in the narrow streets were lost, as those who observed the changes in the capital at that time wrote. It was already a very old house, 100 years old, of romantic form, tragically ironically located almost opposite Arsakio, which was finally built according to the plans of Cautantzoglu, and not Cleanf, who prepared them first. and they even had offers.

In the eyes of the 21st century, the demolition of these buildings is an afterthought. And Cleanthis was not lucky with his subsequent fame, as his masterpiece, the house of Ambrosios Ralli on Dragatsaniou street (that is, very close to the Wertheim house), was demolished in 1936. This house (which later housed the British Embassy), of unique harmony and aesthetics, was fully described by Kostas Biris, who singled out Cleanty (along with Hansen) as sincere representatives of the aesthetic and spiritual ideal. But for the house at the university and har. Trikoupi, we don’t have descriptions of a better quality Ralli house in Klathmonos square. Nevertheless, its somewhat unorthodox, by the standards of a neoclassical city, made it special. Once you see it, you don’t forget. It was like a fairytale house hidden in the city showcase of Athens, the home of the romantic soul against the noble code of classicism. When its demolition began in June 1955, the indefatigable Kostas Biris informed the cultured Athenian about the Kathimerini and gave him information. This demolition is recorded in the column “Notes of an Athenian”: “A two-story house, distinguished by its striking feature, at the corner of Panepistimiou and Harilaou Trikoupi streets, is being demolished. The façade overlooking the Arsakeyon had double windows adorned with three pilasters and a triangle, and in the middle formed a loggia with three other openings in its depth and an attic overlay within a curved, bold apse.” The description continues at length, and I stand in “an attempt to subordinate the classical element to the impulse of romantic freedom.”

Around 1890, Mrs. Kehagia’s school was located in the Wertheim house. Here is what the “Athenian” writes from the “Kathimerini” a few days later, as apparently the old Athenians share their memories. Georgios Angelou Vlachos, the founder of Kathimerini, studied at this special school, which emphasized children’s activities, construction, games and poetry reading.