Benizelos family

The family was mentioned in the Venetian sources as among the oldest, richest and most powerful families in Athens during the Ottoman era.

Descendants of the family distinguished themselves throughout the period of Ottoman rule as elders (proestoi), notaries and men of letters, teachers and also, played a significant role in the Greek War of Independence of 1821.

[1] Tradition connects the Benizeloi with the noble Acciaioli family, the Florentine Dukes of the Duchy of Athens; but the initial documentary mention of any family member, the foremost of the 12 chief aristocratic families, appears in late-15th century Athens with Angelos Benizelos, the father of Saint Philothei.

[1] Angelos also actively participated in the administration of the Greek community of Venice, occupying various offices and teaching at the Scuola dei Greci.

[1] The mansion of the Benizelos family is located at the historic quarter of Plaka in central Athens and it is a typical example of Ottoman urban architecture, one of the few surviving in Greece.