An important step towards saving the monument Villa Klonaridis in Ano Patisia was made Municipality of Athens. As it was announced on Wednesday, work to support the iconic building, which was in danger of collapsing after severe damage caused by a fire 20 years ago, has been completed.

As for the future, the municipality has announced that it will prepare a study for its restoration so that it can be turned into a place for cultural events.

In order to support Villa Klonaridis, a study was drawn up by the Municipality and approved Ministry of Culture (the building was given the status of a new monument). “During the restoration work, the walls of the building were checked and loose parts were carefully removed. The interior spaces were cleared of what was left after the fire, and special scaffolding was installed around the perimeter of the building, which contributed to its stability. Above the villa is a large canopy that protects its interior from harsh weather conditions. Finally, for security reasons, the area around the building is fenced off,” the Athens municipality said in a statement yesterday. This will be followed by the preparation of a restoration study of the villa so that, in the opinion of the municipality, it can be used for cultural purposes, for events and exhibitions open to the public.

“Villa Klonaridis is an emblematic building of Athens and its salvation is a debt to the history of the city, as well as to future generations,” the mayor said in a statement. Kostas Bakoyannis. “Having completed emergency interventions to protect and restore her, we can now take the next important step. We want this gem of the city to come to life again, to open its doors to Athens and the Athenians as a beautiful place of culture, as a living space, physically and functionally integrated, in the large FIX park, which we have completely reformed and modernized. the neighborhood of the Patisians”.

Villa Klonaridis was built in the late 19th or early 20th century and is believed to be the work of Ernst Ziller. It was located in the middle of a large area that the brothers Miltiades and Errikos Klonaridis bought to build a brewery and an ice factory. The business was short-lived and in the 1930s it was bought by Karolos Fix, who converted the factory into a warehouse and an ice factory. The factory worked until 1982, and in 1993 the entire area with the villa was transferred to the municipality of Athens. In 2000, during the reign of Dimitris Avramopoulos, part of the factory was demolished, and the demolition of the rest was completed two years later, after the Ministry of the Interior “declassified” the factory building.