Description of the attraction
The National Library of Greece is the largest library in Greece and is part of the famous neoclassical Athens trilogy, together with the Kapodistrian University of Athens and the Athens Academy of Sciences. The building was designed by the famous Danish architect Theophil von Hansen under the direction of the architect Ernst Ziller. The library is located near the center of Athens between Panepistimiou and Akadimias streets.
The idea of creating the library belonged to Jacob Meyer (Swiss philhellene, participant in the Greek War of Independence). The idea was approved by the Greek government headed by Ioannis Kapodistrias. The library was founded in 1829 and was headed by the Greek historian and philologist Andreas Mustoksidis. At the end of 1830, there were already over a thousand printed books in the library's collection.
The collection grew rapidly, the library moved several times, and in 1842 merged with the library of the University of Athens and was housed in its new building. Then the collection consisted of 15,000 volumes. In 1866, by Royal Charter, both libraries were officially united into the National Library of Greece. In March 1888, construction began on its own neoclassical marble library building. The building consists of three separate parts, two of which house a reading room with an impressive glass ceiling. The bookshelves are made of cast iron, which is not typical for buildings of that time.
Today, the library's funds contain thousands of books in all languages of the world. There is also a rich collection of ancient Greek manuscripts, various historical documents, archives of the Greek revolution, various periodicals and other printed publications. The museum has a collection of microfilm books and 149 incunabula (the largest collection of incunabula in Greece). The main problems of the National Library today are lack of space, staff and a very limited budget.
