Serpieri Mansion

Standing at the corner of Panepistimiou and Edward Law Streets is the headquarters of the Agricultural Bank of Greece, a neoclassical building of the 19th century designed by military engineer Anastasios Theophilas. Erected between 1880 and 1881, construction of the mansion was contracted by Italian businessman Giovanni Battista Serpieri, the mineralogist who started the contemporary mining works in Lavreotiki.

While the main façade dominates the street corners, much of the site’s space is taken up by its inner courtyard and extensive garden. Its opulent interior, completed in 1884, contrasts with its humble exterior – perhaps in deference to its neighbours, the relatively simple ‘Athenian Trilogy’.

Next to the main building, a parallel wing serves as an entrance to the courtyard and the residences on the first and second floors. This arrangement successfully separates the private residences from the professional area, which has a separate entry. In 1929, the newly founded Agricultural Bank bought the building from the Serpieri family, and extended the structure. In the 1980s the building was fully renovated, including the interior murals.