Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens

The Metropolis, officially the Cathedral of the Annunciation, between the Acropolis and Syntagma Square is the seat of the Archbishop of Athens and, since 1862, the principal church of the Greek Orthodox Church in the modern Greek state. King Otto, the Wittelsbach founder of independent Greece, laid the foundation stone in 1842; building material came from 72 small Byzantine churches that were demolished and their stones reused. Three different architects worked on the project over more than 20 years, finishing it in a mix of neo-Romanesque and Neo-Byzantine styles. Greek state funerals for politicians and archbishops are held here, and members of the former royal house were married here. Next to it stands the tiny 12th-century Little Metropolis, which looks like a stone toy beside its giant neighbour.