Cultural Centres

The Cultural Centre of MIET in Athens is housed in a Neoclassical building on the corner of Agiou Konstantinou and Menandrou Streets (next to the National Theatre), which has been characterized by the Ministry of Culture as "a work of art, in need of State protection". The building is named the Eynard Mansion, in honour of the Swiss economist Jean-Gabriel Eynard, fervent philhellene, friend and supporter of Ioannis Capodistrias. Eynard made a decisive contribution to the founding of the National Bank by sending for this purpose large amounts of capital to Greece, which were administered by his trusted partner Georgios Stavrou. The National Bank was founded in 1841, following a proposal made by G. Stavrou and J.-G. Eynard and due to the latter's financial support. As a gesture of gratitude, the shareholders of the National Bank elected the Swiss philhellene to the position of honorary Governor at the first general meeting.

In 1876, landowner Christos Antonopoulos purchased the plot on the corner of Agiou Konstantinou and Menandrou Streets, where he constructed the building a few years later. In the late 1920s certain additions were made to the initial plan, and in 1942 Antonopoulos's descendants sold the premises to the National Bank of Greece. The Bank rented out the ground floor to commercial enterprises and companies, while the Patris Hotel operated on the first and second floors between the 1950s and the early 1990s. In 1992 the Bank's management decided to use the building as a Cultural Centre of the National Bank. In 1993, the Bank's technical services undertook the restoration works. In 1998, following a decision by Theodoros Karatzas, Governor of the National Bank and Chairman of MIET, the Eynard Mansion became home to the Cultural Centre of MIET. In recent years, several art exhibitions and book presentations by the Foundation's Publications Programme have been held there.

Eynard Mansion

20 Aghiou Konstantinou & Menandrou Sts
104 31 Athens

Back