The story of a mansion

Text: Ioanna Ragoussi | Photos: Dimitris Vranas (A.I.F.)

Marpissa, formerly called Tsipido, was once a village of scholars and rich inhabitants. At the entrance of this manor we can see the date 1608 carved on the marble, together with a crest that probably belonged to a family of priests. It is one of the few manors of Marpissa that had a toilet.


The architecture of the house
seems medieval. According to this model rooms are built around the inner staircase of the house in a circular axis. It is worth noting that during the festival, “Routes in Marpissa”, a research was made that proved that the temperature inside the building remains steady no matter what the temperature is outside.

HISTORY: The manor was inhabited by the Frantzi family with their two daughters, Giakoumina and Eleni. The latter was the great grandmother of the sisters Anna and Kiki Aspropoulou, the present-day owners of the traditional manor. Eleni had a daughter who died in childbirth along with her newborn baby, something that brought her great sadness. Thereafter she made the decision to go to the orphanage in Naxos and offer her assistance. Upon arriving a girl fell into her arms crying “Mama!”. When Eleni asked the girl her name, she answered, “Anna”, like her own daughter.

Eleni adopted the little girl and returned with her to Paros. When Anna grew older, Eleni married her to Stamatis Malamatenios, her nephew, so that property would stay in the family. They had twelve children together, of which eight survived. When Anna lost her dearest son Manolis in the battles of December 1944 in Athens, without ever finding out what happened to him, she shut herself in the little room of the house, spending the rest of her life there as an ascetic. Father Filotheos from the monastery of Loggovarda often visited her, as he confessed several inhabitants of the village.

Since 2010 the manor is open to the public during the festival “Routes in Marpissa” and art events take place here.