Athens Academy of Sciences

28 Panepistimiou St, Athens 1859-1885

Architect:
Theophilus von Hansen (1813-1891)



The Academy of Athens building belongs among the outstanding monuments of Athenian neoclassicism, but also to the basic models of the academic tradition of public buildings in modern Greece. It was erected at the expense of Simon Sinas on the basis of designs by Theophilus von Hansen; construction was supervised by Ernst Ziller.
On plan the building is symmetrically organised and consists of three wings interconnected by two smaller lateral sections. The main wing houses the assembly chamber.
The overall total presents a harmonious volume. It rests on a foundation of Piraeus stone that corresponds to the lower floor. The main floor is constructed entirely of marble.
The central wing is in the form of an Ionic temple with a colonnaded portico at each end, in visible imitation of the Erechtheion. The side wings are lower in height and their façades are treated with pillars and an entablature.
Two oversized Ionian columns flank the entrance portico, bearing statues of Athena, goddess of wisdom, and Apollo, god of light, that were sculpted by Leonidas Drosis. The main group on the Academy’s pediment, depicting the birth of Athena, is also his work. The smaller pediments on the side wings, made of terracotta, are the work of Fr. Melnitzky (1875).
The monumental assembly hall is adorned by the wall paintings of Christian Griepenkerl on the theme of the mythological cycle of Prometheus.

TRANSPORTATION