Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens (Mitropoli)

At the heart of Athens, at Mitropolis street, on the square with the same name, is the cathedral church of the city, dedicated to the Annunciation and it is one of the first large monument of Athens as the capital of Greece.

Its construction started in 1842 and it was completed with interruptions due to financial problems. It was inaugurated in 1862 and since then it proved to be a landmark in the history of the modern Greek state, because It hosted all the official ceremonies. The initial plans of the church, with gothic and renaissance elements, were made by the Danish architect Theophil Hansen, who has adapted them to the initial location where it was supposed to be erected, at Panepistimiou street, next to the Ophthalmiatreion. Based on these they have constructed the lower part of the buildings, while the upper part was completed by the architects Demetrios Zezos, main exponent of the “Greek-Byzantine” style, Francois Boulanger and Panagis Kalkos. From the end of the 19th and until the middle of the 20th century there were a lot of alterations and additions both to its interior and exterior, which changed its special initial form.

Architecturally the church belongs to the type of three-aisled basilica with a dome and is a combination of the neoclassical and the Greek-Byzantine style, something that is the result of the changes that occurred in the plans during its construction. They have used architectural material from 72 demolished churches of Athens and its impressive dome is covered externally by copper sheets. Its central entrance is emphasized by an arcade which is supported by Corinthian columns and pilasters, while the twin bell-towers show influences from western church architecture. The church’s interior is decorated with works of well-known artists of the 19th century. The wall paintings are the work of by the painters Spyridon Giallinas and Alexander Seitz, the decoration by Konstantinos Fanellis from Smyrna, while the sculptures are the work of Georgios Fytalis from Tinos.

At an underground crypt in the interior of the church, inside a marble reliquary is the shrine of the patriarch Gregory V and Agia Filothei of Athens.