National Library of Greece, National library in Athens, Greece
The National Library of Greece occupies a 22,000-square-metre building designed by Renzo Piano at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center on Phaleron Bay. Its glass entrance facade, framed in grey metal, has a central double door with stainless-steel handles joined by a blue-sleeved bar and a white sign panel beside it. The library shares the site with the National Opera of Greece.
The institution was founded in 1829 and initially collected works on an island before being relocated to Athens and integrated with the university library. Over the decades it developed into a major repository for preserving national knowledge.
The library holds manuscripts and rare books that reflect centuries of Greek knowledge and heritage, available for visitors to explore in reading rooms. These materials show how learning and creativity have shaped the nation over time.
The library's main site is the Renzo Piano-designed building at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center on the Phaleron Bay Delta, reached via Syngrou Avenue and public transport; the 2018 move left the Vallianeion Megaron on Panepistimiou Street holding the newspaper collection and reading room. Visitors need a reader's card before using the collections.
The 2018 move took the bulk of the collection from the Vallianeion Megaron on Panepistimiou Street to a 22,000-square-metre building at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center on Phaleron Bay. The site, a 20-hectare seafront Delta, had earlier held the Athens horse race track, replaced by the Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre for the 2004 Olympics. Renzo Piano designed the library and the National Opera as twin buildings around a 30-metre-wide seawater channel.
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