National Technical University of Athens

The National Technical University of Athens, known in the city simply as the Polytechnio, was founded in 1837 and is the oldest and most influential engineering school in Greece. The Greek name Ethnikon Metsovion Polytechnion honours its four founders Nikolaos Stournaris, Eleni Tositsa, Michail Tositsas and Georgios Averoff, all born in the Pindus mountain town of Metsovo. The neoclassical main building on Patission Boulevard in the Exarchia district, designed by Lyssander Kaftanzoglou and built between 1862 and 1876, is regarded as a key work of Greek neoclassicism. The 17 November 1973 student uprising against the military junta ended here in bloodshed when a tank smashed through the main gate; every 17 November has since been a national day of remembrance, with the gate left symbolically open. About 9,000 students attend today. The courtyard is freely accessible during the day and houses a small museum and a contemporary art gallery.