National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens, is the oldest university in Southeast Europe and has been in continuous operation since its establishment in 1837. Today, it is the second-largest institution of higher learning in Greece, with more than fifty thousand undergraduate students. It is one of the top ranking universities in Greece, and ranked 177th in the world according to the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings 2009.

History

The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens was founded on May 3, 1837, and was housed in the residence of architects Stamatis Kleanthes and ], on the north east slopes of the Acropolis. It was the first University not only in the newly established Greek State but in all the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean in general.

Before it was renamed to honour Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first head of state of independent modern Greece, the university was known as the Othonian University after King Otto and consisted of four faculties; theology, law, medicine and arts (which included applied sciences and mathematics). It had 33 professors, 52 students and 75 non-matriculated “auditors”. In November 1841, classes began in a new building designed by the Danish architect Christian Hansen. The Propylaea () was designed by Hansen younger brother, Theophil Hansen in 1859 but the building project was not completed until...
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