Klafthmonos Square, Athens Platía Klafthmónos

This building on Panepistimíou (University) Street - now officially Venizélou Street - together with the Academy, National Library and the New Palace, are the most striking achievements of the young kingdom of Greece in the field of architecture and town planning. It was designed by the Hansen brothers of Copenhagen.The University, a plain Neo-Classical building with restrained ornament, was built in 1839-41 by Christian Hansen (1803-83). Behind the columns of the portico, above the doorway, is a representation of King Otto, who initiated the project, surrounded by Muses. In front of the entrance are figures of Kapodistrias, who as Governor of Greece (1827-31) proclaimed the foundation of the university, the writer and scholar Adamantios Korais (1748-1833) and also W.M. Gladstone. Immediately in front of the facade are the statues of the poet Rigas Pherraios and Patriarch Gregory IV, who were murdered by the Turks in 1789 and 1821 respectively. Inside, the portico, stair-well and aula all display examples of the fine ornamentation of the period.The Athens University, as it is commonly referred to, houses a collection of printed documents and journals, commemorative medals, medical and dental instruments as well as photographs and paints depicting the history of the university.

The Church of Saints Theodore, dedicated to the two military saints of that name, stands at the west end of Klafthmónos Square, near the University.Built in the mid 11th C. on the site of an earlier ninth C. church, it is very characteristic of its period: a domed cruciform church with a handsome ashlar exterior, with lines of brick between the courses of stone, a terracotta frieze of animal and plant ornament and Kufic script. The bell-cote was added later. The interior is modern.

The King Otto Museum is now the new Museum of Athens. It occupies the modest mansion, built in 1834, in which King Otto and Queen Amalia resided from 1836 until 1842, when they moved into the newly built palace in Syntagma Square.The last descendant of the original builder (Stamatios Vouros), Lambros Evtaxias, had it restored to its original form by the architect Jannis Travlos, using the plans of its original German architects, Lüders and Hoffer, and made it available to house the museum. On the ground floor visitors can see the old kitchen. On the next floor are the apartments used by the royal couple, with their Empire and Biedermeier furniture - the Queen's room, the drawing-room, the King's study, the audience chamber, the room of the gentleman-in-waiting, the dining-room.In addition to numerous mementos and pictures of King Otto's time (1815-67, reigned 1833-62), including loans from the Bavarian State Collections, the museum contains an interesting model of Athens in 1842, on a scale of 1:1,000. Various views of the city and some architectural drawings complete the collection.

The City Museum is the municipal museum of Athens, housed in the old royal palace designed in the New-Classical style. On display are works by famous Greek artists, including 20th Century artists.