One of the most famous “cinematic” houses in Athens is the “Kokovikou House” in Plaka, that is, where the old favorite Greek movie “Let the woman fear the man” was filmed.

And while everyone knows where it is and how it is today, few know its oldest history, that is, how it used to be and, to be precise, who was the first tenant of the house in Plaka.

Few people know who lived there before. In fact, it is not a random personality but a historical person: The reason for Seykhulislamis (the highest religious leader of the Ottomans) Haji Halil, an Ottoman priest who actually sacrificed himself for the Greeks.

The caddy Hadzi Halil (or Hadzi Halil Efentis) lived in Plaka, on Tripodon Street exactly where the so-called Kokovikou house is. When the Revolution broke out in Athens, on April 25, 1821, the Turks sent Hadzi Khalil to Constantinople where he refused to issue an order (fetfa) allowing massacres against the Orthodox, Greek and non-Orthodox, throughout the territory.

He paid for this refusal with his own life as he was put to death in the most disgraceful way. After the decision of the Sultan, the appellant breathed his last in Afyon Karahisar, on the way to his exile, being tortured and paralyzed.