The First University of Athens (adaptation of the Kleanthis home)
Today the University of Athens Museum

5 Tholou St, Rizokastro, Athens, mid-17th century, 1831, 1967, 1985

Architects
Stamatios Kleanthis 1802-1862)
Eduard Schaubert (1804-1860)



The building at 5 Tholou St in Plaka is one of the oldest buildings to have been preserved in the Greek capital. The precise date of its construction is unknown, but it appears on the drawing of J. Gurrey who visited Athens in 1674. The architects Stamatios Kleanthis and Eduard Schaubert bought it in 1831 and remodelled it for use as their home.
Since it was one of the largest buildings in Athens at the time, it was selected to house the first university of the newly constituted Hellenic State from 1837 to 1841. After many changes of use, the building once again became the property of the university. The refurbishment works that restored it to its initial state were completed in 1985 and since then it has housed the University of Athens Museum. In the summer months, its courtyard is used for cultural events, plays, concerts, etc.
Built on a lot with a steep slope, in addition to the features that may have been deliberately preserved by Kleanthis and Schaubert, such as vaults, wells etc., the University of Athens Museum now functions on four levels and has all the features of Athenian traditional architecture.
A typical feature of the building’s simple façade is the porch with pilasters on the first floor. On the north side there is a closed balcony on the upper floor; the staircase and large semi-open-air balcony ("hayati") look onto the interior courtyard enclosed by a high wall.
There is a characteristic gradual diminution of the building volume on the two last floors so as to create open balconies. The total building is picturesque, despite the effort to make it conform to classicist models.

TRANSPORTATION