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Tobacco Shop

The Tobacco Shop of Alexandroupolis is one of the most imposing buildings in the city. Almost throughout its history it constitutes the most emblematic figure in its landscape, as it was built in 1892, when the new city was being built at that spot – then it was still called Dedeagatch. Its manufacturer was the then populous Catholic Community and and the initial use of the Tobacco Shop was to house the Catholic School for Boys. And so it was, until 1904 when a fire that broke out by accident destroyed most of it.

The Tobacco Shop remains a ruin until 1923. Then, the building was bought by Agop Astartzian, tobacco merchant and owner of a tobacco company. He renovated the shop and the following year it opened as a space of processing, storage and trading of tobacco.

It was then that became known as Tobacco Shop and it served as this until the outbreak of the World War II. During the period of Occupation, it was used as a prison, as during the period of Civil War.

In the 1950s the Tobacco Shop regained its commercial ise, as warehouse of sunflowers and grain, which lasted, though, a few years and since the the building was abandoned.

In 1996 the Tobacco Shop was declared as preservable and efforts were made in order to be restored. In the course of work for its transformation into Public  Library in 2005, a terrible accident occurred; three workers were crushed by a wall and lost their lives. The work had to be abandoned until recently, when the work restarted in order for the Tobacco Shop to be delivered in 2014.

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