National Library of Greece

The National Library of Greece was founded in 1829 as the national collection of the young independent Greek state and today holds more than 4,500 manuscripts, including an important corpus of Byzantine and post-Byzantine codices. Since 2016 its main premises are in the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in the Kallithea district south of central Athens, designed by Renzo Piano as a sloping green hill with a sea-facing reading room. The historic 1903 neoclassical marble building on Panepistimiou Street, by Theophil Hansen, is part of the so-called Athenian Trilogy together with the University and Academy. Both sites are open to the public; the Niarchos complex with its park and canal invites long visits, with free guided tours and a striking glass wall in the reading room offering Acropolis views on clear days.