Zappeion Hall

The Zappeion was funded by the cousins Evangelos and Konstantinos Zappas, benefactors who pushed for the revival of the Olympic Games, and was completed in 1888 to designs by the Danish architect Theophil Hansen. Its plan is unusual: a rectangular building wrapped around a circular interior courtyard ringed by a two-storey colonnade, open to the sky, which is the part visitors remember. The hall served as the fencing venue in the 1896 Games and as the Olympic village of sorts, and it has since been Greece's principal conference and exhibition building, used for state occasions and signings. The surrounding gardens run into the National Garden, with palm avenues, statues, an open-air cinema in summer and a cafe under the trees.

What you actually see

• The circular courtyard - a colonnaded rotunda open to the sky inside the building.
• The neoclassical facade - Hansen's marble front and portico.
• The gardens - palm avenues and statues linking to the National Garden.
• The summer cinema - open-air screenings in the grounds.

When to go

Year-round; the courtyard is accessible when no private event is running, and the gardens are pleasant at any season. Evenings in summer bring the outdoor cinema and cafes to life.

Honest expectations

The interior halls are used for conferences and are usually closed to casual visitors, so the visit is the courtyard, the exterior and the gardens. Events occasionally close the whole building.

Nearby

The National Garden is immediately north; the Panathenaic Stadium and the Temple of Olympian Zeus are minutes away.