Panepistimiou Street

Panepistimiou street facing towards Syntagma square. On the left the Propylaea and the main building of the Academy of Athens.

Panepistimiou Street (Greek: Οδός Πανεπιστημίου, "University Street", named after the University of Athens, the central building of which is on the upper corner) is a major street in Athens that has run one way for non-transit vehicles since 2002 from Vasilissis Amalias Avenue, Syntagma Square and Vassilissis Sofias Avenue to Omonoia Square in which is now a pedestrian crossing and before an intersection. Its total length is about 1.2 km. The street was formally renamed as Eleftherios Venizelos Avenue in 1945[1] (after the famous Prime Minister) but is still usually known by its historical name. It has six lanes, of which five are for traffic and one eastbound lane for transit buses only. Most of the street runs almost diagonally from southeast to northwest.

View of the street (during the 1990s)

Buildings along the street include the Bank of Greece, Athens Eye Clinic, the University of Athens, the Academy of Athens, the National Library, the Numismatic Museum, Titania Hotel, Attica Department Store, as well as a part of the Grande Bretagne Hotel and the Catholic Cathedral of Athens. Many buildings as high as ten to fifteen stories line this street. Old neoclassical buildings of no higher than two to three stories used to exist until the 1950s, when a construction spree, which lasted several decades, demolished all but a few of them.

The old Serpieri mansion on the street
  1. ^ "«Ελευθερίου Βενιζέλου», όπως οδός Πανεπιστημίου και λεωφόρος Θησέως, Του Δημητρη Ρηγοπουλου | Kathimerini". www.kathimerini.gr. Retrieved 2016-05-02.