Zappeion, Athens

The Zappeion is a grand neoclassical building beside the National Gardens, used for meetings, exhibitions, and ceremonies. Its creation was tied directly to the revival of the Olympic Games: it was built as the first structure intended specifically for that purpose. The Danish architect Theophil Hansen designed it, with François Boulanger also credited, and it opened on the 20th of October 1888.

During the 1896 Summer Olympics, its rooms became the principal fencing venue. Later, the building housed Greece’s earliest national radio broadcaster, beginning in 1938. Its marble peristyle atrium also hosted the signing of the papers that completed Greece’s entry into the European Community in May 1979. Look at the building’s formal entrance and broad palace-like mass: this is a working conference and exhibition venue with an unusually direct connection to Olympic history.