History     

In May of 1832 in London, the "Three Protecting Powers" - Great Britain, France and Russia - signed their agreement on the election of underage Prince of Bavaria Otto as King of Greece. That same year, in Constantinople, a treaty was signed, mapping out the borders of the Greek State. On June 29th, 1833, a royal decree was issued, making Athens the capital of the newly established state. The move from Nauplio to Athens created a pressing need for the housing of the services, of the ministries and for the new home of King Otto.

The choice of the location and the construction of the palace were assigned to the architect Gaertner (1792-1847), who was the director of the Fine Arts Academy of Munich and the official architect of the Nation. It is with this capacity that in 1835he accompanied the King of Bavaria Ludovic to Greece.

The area around the Boubounistra hill, at the highest point of the Eastern city limits, with a relatively even ground, was the location that Gaertner chose. The main criterion in the selection of the area was to underline the presence of the building in the city, thereby accentuating the weight of the Bavarian power in Greece. A secondary criterion was the good climate of that particular location.

It is noteworthy that the previous proposals for the erection site of the palace which were rejected, were those of the architects Kleanthis and Shaubert, who suggested the area of Otto Square (which is known today as Omonia Square) and the Saint Athanassios hill in Thissio suggested by Klenze. Schinkel's suggestion to erect the palace in the Acropolis area was never taken into serious consideration.

The building
Gaertner respected the archeological heritage of Athens when he prepared the plans. He designed a simple, massive, square neoclassical building of 6994m², with four exterior wings, each with three floors, a middle wing with two floors and two courtyards - the Meridian courtyard and the North courtyard - without any superfluous decorative elements. The foundation stone was placed on January 25th/February 6th, 1836. The total cost of the project amounted to 5.450.000 gold drachmas.

Each floor or wing catered to the housing needs of the different operations of the building. The storage areas were in the basement. On the ground floor were co-housed the Secretariat and the Palace Cashier with their auxiliary areas, the palace chapel, the vault and the kitchens. On the first floor were located, the reception areas and the chambers of the royals, which successively communicated with one another, and were the most luxurious areas of the building. On the second floor were housed the areas of residence of the heirs, of the chamberlain, and of the palace personnel.

The building was designed so as to allow access from all its sides. Each entrance served a different purpose. The communication between the floors was achieved through a respectable number of staircases, which were set in every wing of the building.

The murals - The Hall known today as the Elefterios Venizelos Hall
As reflected by the 270 drawings that were saved and that are kept in Munich, Gaertner ventured into the apportioned interior design of wings and areas. Mainly under his supervision, paintings depicting historical themes completed murals with themes drawn from Greek mythology.

The team of workers, technicians, architects, decorators and artists specializing in decorative painting and gold plating, made up of Greeks as well as foreigners, successfully undertook the completion of the building, which finished after the king had settled into the new palace, on September 4th, 1843.

The only murals that still survive are in the Elefterios Venizelos Hall. A frieze 1.22x78m, which is spread throughout the room, depicts historical scenes with the Greek Revolution being its main theme, from the raising of the flag in Agia Lavra to the arrival of King Otto.

From 1862 to 1924
The overthrow of Otto in 1862 ended the first period of operation of the palace building. With the arrival and settling in of King George I on October 17th, 1863, a re-organization of the areas occurred, without any major changes to the areas, to attend to his everyday needs. The two fires that broke out in 1884 and 1909 offered an opportunity to make changes to the initial construction of the building. The first fire resulted in the burning down of the second floor of the north wing. The second fire resulted in the destruction of a large part of the central wing, which housed the ballrooms, precious objects, furniture, paintings, sculptures, and the chapel, from which the fire spread out. As for the West wing, the fire only affected the north wall of the Trophy Room (known today as the Elefterios Venizelos Hall).

The renovations continued until 1913, at which point they were interrupted due to the significant events of the time: the Greco-Bulgarian war, the assassination of King George I, and the declaration of World War I. The old palace continued to serve as the residence of Queen Mother Olga until 1922, when she left Greece forever, while King Constantine remained in his hitherto residence, at the mansion on Herodus Attikou (which today houses the President of the Republic) even after his coronation. Following the abdication of Constantine, the old palace was transformed into a hospital.

The referendum of April 13th, 1924 removed the dynasty from the country, and instituted the Republic.

Transitional Period
After the permanent departure of Queen Olga from Greece, the Old Palace Mansion remained unoccupied until the Asia Minor disaster. In 1922, nursing and refugee employment facilities such as a hospital, an orphanage, workshops, etc. were housed there.

Towards the end of 1924, the building, now under the management of the Department of Agriculture, was occupied by state services (Topography of the Department of Agriculture, City Police, Presidential Guard...) and organizations for the relief of refugees: Christian Youth Coalition, Near East Relief, Hellenic Red Cross, infant medical offices, boarding school, the Benaki workshops, etc. That same year, the chapel in the southeastern part of the ground floor was temporarily conceded to the Evangelic Church.

In 1925, a small building was erected on the grounds of the Old Palace, known today as the "Little Palace". The plans were Thomson's, architect of the Genadios Library. In this building a shop was housed, that sold the sewing and handicraft products manufactured in the Benaki workshops, operating on the palace grounds.

In the same year, the Air Force Defense assumed the management of the building, and it was decided that the Army and Navy Ministry would be housed there. The redesign work began in July 1926 but was interrupted two months later when it was decided that the building would house the Parliament and the Senate instead.

In 1927, the "George I Memorabilia Museum", annex of the National History Museum, was inaugurated, and was housed in the Palace until August 1930. In 1936, the Museum was moved to three rooms in the southwestern part of the ground floor and operated in that area until 1941, when the rooms were conceded to the Hellenic-Italian Association.

In 1928 the decision for the erection of an Unknown Soldier Monument was made, as well as for the use of the building as the House of Parliament.

The Greek Parliament (renovations and reconstructions)
In November 1929 the Government decided to move the Parliament from the old Parliament House on Stadiou Street, and to house it along with the Senate in the Old Palace building. Andreas Kriezis the architect undertook to redesign the building as well as the supervision of its transformation into a Parliament.

That same year the works begun for the demolition of the central wing, which was destroyed in the 1909 fire. A year later, the work for its reconstruction commenced.

Whatever remained from the central wing was demolished down to its foundation. The Parliament and the Senate rooms, as well as auxiliary underground rooms, were built in the place of the old wing, and in part of the palace courtyard. The assembly hall and that of the Senate were covered by glass so as to allow natural light in. The areas housed in the building were approximately 17300m².

Various other functional interventions were performed at the same time, to accommodate for new needs. The office of the Prime Minister, the Cabinet Room, the offices of the President of the Parliament and of the Director of the Parliament and the Parliamentarian room were housed on the ground floor.

The entire first floor was converted into office space. The Senate Vestibule was the "Trophy Room" and the Senate Reading Room was the "Fighter's Room". The second floor housed the Library, the Reading Room and their auxiliary spaces. In the remaining areas, it was envisaged that the State Council would be housed, along with the "Great Court Room" at the northern part of the east wing, where it can still be found today.

For the exterior, the significant change that was implemented affected the north side without altering the look and aesthetics of the building. A new entrance was built, with six Doric pillars, adopting elements drawn from the other two entrances, which adorn the western and eastern sides.

The construction work that was done included decorating - with colorful ceramic tiles, and marble, wood and mosaic floorings - marble walls that covered the walls of the Parliament and the Senate halls from the lower floor as high up as the Gallery, and wooden layers in other areas.

The Unknown Soldier Monument was erected in the forecourt of the Old Palace in 1932, a work of art by architect Adrian Lazarides. It has been the focal point of national celebrations ever since. It was the Senate that first moved into the renovated Old Palace on August 2nd, 1934, together with the library and the State Council. The Parliament moved there on July 1st, 1935, when the Fifth National Assembly convened there for first time. From 1935 until today the building has housed the Parliament, with the exception of short interruptions during the dictatorship of Metaxas, the German occupation, and the April Military Coup.

The Greek Parliament today
From 1975 and to this day, construction has been continuously ongoing for the improvement of the building's operation and appearance. The installation of the air conditioning system and the upgrade of the power supply are just two of the improvements.

Since the move of the State Council in 1993 into the renovated Arsakio building, the Old Palace has been housing the Parliament, the offices of the President of the Parliament and those of the Vice-Presidents, the quarters of the parties, the office of the Prime Minister, the legal office of the Prime Minister, the secretariat of the Cabinet, and various other services of the Parliament.

In 1996, under the supervision of Academician Panagiotis Tetsis, a Special Committee was formed to attend to the embellishment and improvement of the internal areas of the Parliament, and for their decoration with cultural works of art.

In 1999, a five-floor underground parking facility was built, with an 800-car capacity, to cater to the needs of the Parliamentarians and the Parliament employees. The surrounding area was remodeled, and statues of Charilaos Trikoupis and Elefterios Venizelos were raised. That same year, an audiovisual unit was formed, which transmits the Plenary Sessions through the Internet and all around the world via satellites. In the same area, a facility was built to conduct interviews of Parliamentarians.

Since September 2000, a kindergarten facility has been in operation in a 1.100m² area, to accommodate the children of Parliamentarians and Parliament personnel.

Buildings in nearby locations were bought or rented to cover additional needs, as on Voulis Street, and elsewhere 4000m² were transformed into office space, to be conceded to MPs who do not reside in Athens. In the "Arvaniti Mansion" on Vassilissis Sophias Avenue, the following services are now housed: Scientific, Human Resources, Financial and Public Relations. In three other buildings on Filellinon, Amalias, and Mitropoleos streets, of a total surface 11.000m², other services will be housed.

With these significant works the Parliament building is helping to upgrade the image of the center of the capital city and it has become a messenger for the history of the Nation.