Gennadius Library, Research library in Kolonaki, Athens, Greece
The Gennadius Library is a research facility in the Kolonaki neighborhood holding over 110,000 volumes about Greek history, literature, and art from ancient times to the present day. The collection includes rare manuscripts, engravings, and maps alongside its main book collection.
Joannes Gennadius first gave part of his books to the National Library of Greece, then found them unrecorded and sought another home. In 1922 he donated 25,000 volumes to the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, on condition that they be housed separately and open to scholars of all nations. The Carnegie Corporation paid for the building, erected between 1923 and 1925 at a cost of about $300,000; it opened on 23 April 1926 and honours his father, George Gennadius.
The library holds rare manuscripts, watercolors, and historical maps that document Greek civilization and its many periods of creativity. Visitors walking through the reading rooms encounter evidence of Greece's artistic and intellectual contributions.
The library opens Monday through Wednesday and Friday from 9 AM to 4:45 PM, Thursday until 7:45 PM, and Saturday until 1:45 PM. Since this is a research-focused facility, it is wise to plan your visit in advance if you want to consult specific collections or materials.
The library's most prized holding is a Gospel book written in 1226 by Basil, protonotary of Melitene. The collection also includes Christos Androutsos's library of over 5,000 volumes, with Byzantine-era Greek works and travel accounts from the Ottoman period. Gennadius's own scrapbooks and ephemera have been digitized and posted online.
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