Demonstene Baltazzi house
Photo courtesy of Sandy White
Front and back views of a house now within the grounds of ‘Buca Lycee’, originally owned by an influential Baltazzi family, and the residence where Sultan Abdulaziz stayed in 1863. Around 1890s it passed to an Armenian by the name of Tekvor Ispartaliyan, it was a Greek orphanage around 1920 and since the 1930s has been a school. Until recently (post 1987) the pedestal supported a statue of Venus crafted by the local sculpturer, Papazyan, and the ornamental pool surrounding this pedestal still seen today, was depicted in fine condition in photographs of the 1930s.
image courtesy of Hümerya Birol Akkurt
image courtesy of Hümerya Birol Akkurt
image courtesy of Hümerya Birol Akkurt
From my personal postcard collection
The photo postcard shows the house in happier times, taken probably between 1923-28. The Ottoman script states it is the house of the 'Gazi pasha mansion - Buca' referring probably to Ataturk who would easily have stayed in this house, by which time it belonged to the government, on passing.
image courtesy of Achilleas Chatziconstantinou
‘Villa Spartalakis’, as stated in ‘O Butzas’, Nikos Kararas, Enosis Smyrnaion Publications, Athens, 1962, photographed by the author June 1962. From an earlier publication, from a report of the Sultan’s visit in 1863 we get the information of the grand garden of this house whose architect is named as the Englishman J.T. Wood.
image courtesy of Alex Baltazzi
The Aphrodite Statue of Papazian (or a copy of it) formerly in the front garden of the Baltazzi house now moved to the 9th September University in Boudja.