Academy of Athens, Athens — Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

The Academy of Athens, designed by Theophil Hansen and completed in 1885, stands as part of the "Athens Trilogy," a set of three neoclassical buildings that were deliberately designed to connect modern Greece with classical antiquity. Alongside the University of Athens and the National Library of Greece, the Academy was meant to proclaim to the world that Greece, despite centuries of Ottoman occupation, was the heir to the classical civilization that had invented philosophy, democracy, and democracy. The building is unabashedly neoclassical, drawing inspiration from ancient Greek architecture but expressing itself in the language of 19th-century design and materials. The exterior features grand columns, classical proportions, and sculptural decoration. At the entrance, statues of Plato and Socrates stand as sentries, watching over intellectual life. Higher up the facade, figures of Apollo and Athena grace the ionic columns, invoking the gods of wisdom and culture. The Academy was founded in 1926, though the building that houses it was completed earlier, in 1885. It serves as Greece's national academy, analogous to the academies of other European nations. It's a place where elected members discuss and disseminate knowledge, conduct research, and set intellectual agendas. The building houses a library, meeting halls, and administrative offices. What makes the Academy architecturally and culturally significant is its explicit attempt to claim continuity with the classical past. By using neoclassical architectural language, by placing Plato and Socrates at the entrance, by naming the institution an "Academy" (echoing Plato's school in ancient Athens), modern Greeks were asserting their connection to the classical period. The building is an argument about history and identity, made tangible in marble, columns, and sculpture.