Abdul Hamid’s wagon had been given as a gift by a queen of France, and today it has enormous historical value.
On his train journey from Constantinople to his place of exile in Thessaloniki, the deposed sultan Abdul Hamid II he often visited the last carriage of the train to smoke. It was the last carriage, which today is known as the smoking room. According to the municipal councilor from the faction “Team for Thessaloniki” of the mayor Stelios Angeloudis, Vassilis Diamantakis, the wagon was a gift from a queen of France, and today it has a huge historical value. His reputation came into the news again on the occasion of the letter sent last Monday by Mr. Angeloudis to GAIAOSE and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, asking him to return to Thessaloniki from Athens where he is.
He referred to the issue during the special accountability meeting of the municipal authority and the discussion that took place after a question from the head of the faction “Thessaloniki for all” Spyros Pegas, regarding the building complex and the plot of land of the former Depot industrial complex and the restoration of tram cars
Mr. Diamantakis pointed out that the wagon was taken to Athens at some point to be exhibited and stayed at Renti’s garage and added that there has been a universal request from the area for the railway, for years, to return. “A letter was also written during the mayorship of Boutaris, but Athens is deaf. I now hope that Mayor Angeloudis with his persistence will manage to bring it back”, he stressed.
Mr. Pega’s question to the municipal authority was presented at the Municipal Council meeting by the Municipal Councilor of the faction “Thessaloniki for all”, Michalis Tremopoulos, who proposed to become a Museum of Urban Transport in the tram depot in Depo and asked to be informed about the plans of the administration of the Municipality of Thessaloniki regarding the historical complex and the restoration-reconstruction of the two historical tram vehicles, which have now been discredited.
The history of Thessaloniki is linked to the history of the tram
As Mr. Tremopoulos pointed out, “the history of Thessaloniki is tied to the history of the tram. The city was connected. It was in a time of rebirth, development, modernization of the city, at the end of the 19th century. The tram started to be built in 1892 and within a year the ten kilometers had been built. The tram was associated with a charismatic personality of the city, Hamdi Bey.”
According to him, the depot began to be done at the same time, in 1893 when it was built by the great architect Piero Arrigoni who has associated his name with a number of important buildings in the city. In 1908 the trams were electrified. In the Depot, i.e. in the tram depot, under the two-striped metal roof (designed by Arigoni) the trams were parked and spent the night. Later, a school was built on part of the old track and light company lot.
The tram depot complex has been marked historical preserved monument from the Ministry of Culture. Today, some machine shops are preserved while others have been destroyed. At the Depot there is a remnant of a tram under the metal roof while the municipality uses the area to collect large volumes of snow removal salt there. The rest of the area is destroyed by various.
Regarding the two carriages he proposed to restore, he stated that the first was in 1999 in Retziki where it was used as a holiday home. It was then rescued and moved to the railway museum, the old station and later the Depot depot, where it is destroyed by the weather and various unconscious. The second carriage was saved thanks to the sensitivity of the then director of Architecture in the Municipality of Thessaloniki, Apostolos Papagiannopoulos, while it was used for the films of Theodoros Angelopoulos and Tasos Psarras. Now, it is in the hands of the municipality and, according to Mr. Tremopoulos, it is constantly being devalued and exposed to destruction.
The councilor emphasized that there is one positive climate for the restoration of the wagons while he pointed out, among other things, that in a social consultation organized by “Mamagaia” in collaboration with the Municipality of Thessaloniki, the residents of the 5th apartment expressed their willingness to utilize the space and connect it with the history of the city as a place of culture and other activities. Groups of students have done work to restore the designs, while preliminary work has also been done for the restoration of the two carriages.
Looting has gone too far
Regarding the current situation, Mr. Diamantakis stated that “the looting has gone too far”. He expressed fears that restoration may no longer be possible, but strongly advocated it as. as he said, these are two important relics for the city that must be preserved. For his part, Sokratis Dimitriadis, municipal councilor of the faction “Yes in Thessaloniki” of the former mayor Konstantinos Zervas, commented that “for a number of years there was an attempt to find funds for the reconstruction of the wagons”, he estimated that “it is something that due to the financial crisis could not to be done” and declared that “now slowly it can start to be implemented”.
For the time being, the deputy mayor of Technical Projects for the Environment and Sustainable Mobility, Prodromos Nikiforidis, has announced that a play by the State Theater of Northern Greece will be hosted next September in the area of the former depot of the Depot.
Source :Skai
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