The Old Chemistry Laboratory

For more than a century the Chemistry Laboratory and the laboratories of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at the University of Athens, have occupied this historic building on Solonos Street.  Built in the late 1870s, from designs by the famous architect, Ziller, the facility was opened in 1880, the original building comprised a basement, ground floor and the first floor.

After a destructive fire in 1911 that required extensive repairs, the amphitheatre was built, followed later by the addition of the third floor.  The teaching podium, the seats, and the laboratories in this historic building have seen most of the great scientists of modern Greece.

On October 12, 1944, the day Athens was liberated from German occupation the experimental radio station of the Physics Laboratory was the first station to transmit the news of freedom. In recent years, studies have been conducted regarding the full restoration of the university’s historic buildings, for them to house the Library, the Science Museum and cultural events halls for the University of Athens.

Image source: https://hub.uoa.gr/en/