The German Archaeological Institute
On the bustling corner of Fidiou and Harilaou Trikoupi streets in downtown Athens, in the midst of shoe shops, electrical appliance stores, book-sellers and less-than-elegant window displays, stands one of the few remaining neo-classical buildings in Athens. Somewhat weathered, its ceilings extravagantly high, its balustrades polished to a bright sheen by the hands that have grasped them, its tall windows admitting only enough light to illuminate the dark, wood-panelled walls, the gracious building is the home of the German Archaeological Institute of Athens. Built in 1897 according to designs commissioned by Heinrich Schliemann from the German architect, Ernst Ziller, to whom Athens owes some of its most beautiful, neo-classical edifices, the building once satin a vast garden which stretched all the way to Panepistimiou Street.
