What I can see

This neoclassical building is organized in wings, located in Kolonaki, which has always been a bourgeois district, and today houses a model primary school and the pedagogical department of the University of Athens (formerly the Pedagogical Academy). The facade is symmetrical and divided into 5 parts. The main entrance has a slight projection, has beams at its ends and marble Doric columns in the middle, which support the entablature. On the first floor, we see corresponding Ionic semi-columns. On the ground floor, there are classrooms, a library, a hall for ceremonies, music and performances, while on the first floor there are classrooms, teachers’ offices and the secretariat.

What I can't see

Its construction began with a donation by the merchant and politician Gregorios Maraslis, but the money was not enough and that is why it took too long to be completed. It was designed by Dimitris Kallias and the later additions are by Nikolaos Mitsakis. During the Balkan Wars, the building functioned as a hospital. As an educational institution, it has always belonged to the elite of public education. Education was one of the main priorities of the newly established Greek state and the relationship between education and religion was inseparable during the 19th and 20th centuries, which is still happening today, albeit more discreetly. In those years, students’ abuse was an acceptable practice. When enrolling students, parents used to say to teachers “teacher I hand you meat and you hand me bones”. Thus, the school was accompanied by fear, frustration, aggression and the students said “damn the school and whoever finished it”.

Info

• Address: 4 Marasli St.

Bibliography