Residence of Tegos Sapountzis (1920)

Stergios (Tegos) Sapountzis was born in 1877 in Kelli, Florina. He was a merchant and acquired considerable property. He created the Sapountzis Mills, the Sapountzis Vineyards and engaged in the trade of livestock products.
He was very active during the Macedonian struggle. He was director of the National Centre of Florina and collaborated by correspondence with Pavlos Melas and Ion Dragoumis. During the First Balkan War, he was captured by the Ottomans and detained in the Monastery. He participated, together with Metropolitan Polycarp and other leaders of Florina, in the negotiations with Yusuf Bey for the surrender of the city to the Greek army. After the liberation he was appointed mayor of the city.
He died in 1960 in Athens and was buried in Florina.
His residence, in the area of the Sakuleva River, is one of the most beautiful eclectic buildings in the city, built in 1920.
It is a neoclassical building of the interwar period with decorative eclectic elements, which make it a typical example of the architecture of the interwar period and European influences. The layout of the façade is tripartite, vertical with corner triangular projections. On the exterior of the building we can distinguish the arched decorative niches, semi-columns with epicycles, baroque-inspired pediment, stone in the form of a “mosaic”, balusters on the parapet, pilasters on the openings. The craftsmen who built the Sapountzis house came mainly from Drosopigi, a well-known village of masters in the region.

SOURCE : Archive of the Municipality of Florina (Digital Tour of Florina)