The Bank of Greece

Occupying an entire city block, the magnificent Bank of Greece building was constructed in the 1930s, designed by Nikolaos Zouboulidis, Cimon Laskaris and Konstantinos Papadakis.

None of these architects had won the original competition, held in 1929 while Eleftherios Venizelos was in office. The architects were asked by the bank to present new plans, which were finally approved in 1932.

Bordered by Panepistimiou, Edward Law, Stadiou and Omirou Streets, the building was founded in 1933 and inaugurated in 1938 under the Metaxas dictatorship. The building has a distinctive façade, very similar to that adorning the Parliament Building (the Old Palace), designed almost a century earlier by German architect Gartner.

The Bank of Greece, the country’s central monetary authority, has kept its headquarters here ever since.