The Embassy of the United States in Athens is the

embassy of the United States The United States has the second most diplomatic missions of any country in the world after Mainland China, including 166 of the 193 member countries of the United Nations, as well as observer state Vatican City and non-member countries Kosovo a ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, in the

capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, Department (country subdivision), department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. The

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

is charged with

diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...

and

Greece–United States relations Due to the strong historical, political, cultural and religious ties between them, Greece and the United States today enjoy excellent diplomatic relations and consider each other an ally. Today Greece is one of the United States's closest allies. ...

. The

United States Ambassador to Greece This is a list of United States ambassadors to Greece. List of ambassadors List of ambassadors from the United States to Greece. ;1868–1899: *Charles K. Tuckerman, Charles Keating Tuckerman (Minister 1868–71) *John M. Francis (Minister 1871� ...

is the

head of mission In diplomatic usage, head of mission (HOM) or chief of mission (COM) from the French "chef de mission diplomatique" (CMD) is the head of a diplomatic representation, such as an ambassador, high commissioner, nuncio, chargé d'affaires, permane ...

of the United States to Greece.

Geoffrey R. Pyatt Geoffrey Ross Pyatt (born November 16, 1963)Welcome, Mr. Pyatt!
, ''Den (ne ...

is currently the United States Ambassador.

Facilities

The chancery building in Athens was designed by famed

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 200 ...

architect

Walter Gropius Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-American architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in conne ...

with consulting architect

Pericles A. Sakellarios Perikles A. Sakellarios (September 1905 – March 1985), was one of the leading figures in Greek architecture between 1936 and 1985. Biography Born in Corfu on 13 September 1905, first son of Aristides Sakellarios and Thalia Mavrogianni. Atten ...

. It was constructed between 1959 and 1961 and is a protected architectural landmark. Gropius' famous design was in the characteristic simple Bauhaus form, inspired by the architecture of the

Parthenon The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...

. In 2003, the U.S. Embassy and the Athens Municipality celebrated the addition of a welcoming green space, the Makedonon Street Park. The

landscaping Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including the following: # Living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly called gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal o ...

of this pedestrian walkway was prompted by heightened security requirements. A 2007 expansion added an office building,

parking garage A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a build ...

, compound entrances,

fuel station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gasol ...

Marine Corps Security Guard A Marine Security Guard (MSG), also known as a Marine Embassy Guard, is a member of the Marine Corps Embassy Security Group (formerly Marine Security Guard Battalion), a brigade-sized organization of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) whose de ...

quarters,

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

, and

basketball court In basketball, the basketball court is the playing surface, consisting of a rectangular floor, with baskets at each end. Indoor basketball courts are almost always made of polished wood, usually maple, with -high rims on each basket. Outdoor sur ...

. The design of the new office building is intended to integrate well with the chancery, as well as with the adjacent Megaron Mousikis (

Athens Concert Hall The Athens Concert Hall (Greek: Μέγαρον Μουσικής Αθηνών, ''Mégaron Mousikis Athinon'') is a concert hall located on Vasilissis Sofias Avenue in Athens, Greece. The Hall was inaugurated in 1991 with two halls. Since then it ...

). The new office building enabled the embassy to bring onto the compound employees who have been working in leased space for many years. The office building is and includes office space for over 150 people. In September 2018, the embassy began a multi-year renovation that will provide additional office space and upgrade electrical and mechanical systems. The work is expected to cost $342 million and take four years to complete. Many of the components date to the building's construction in 1961. Offices and sections include: *

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

* Deputy Chief of Mission *Political Section *Economic Section *

Consular A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

Section (

Visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

and

American citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

services; federal benefits) *Public Affairs Section (Press Office, Cultural Office, Information Resource Center) *

United States Commercial Service The United States Commercial Service (CS) is the trade promotion arm of the U.S. Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration. CS is a part of the U.S. Foreign Service and its commercial officers are diplomats. The CS global networ ...

Foreign Agricultural Service The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) is the foreign affairs agency with primary responsibility for the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) overseas programs – market development, international trade agreements and negotiations, ...

*The Office of Defense Cooperation *

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration tha ...

and Citizenship and Immigrations Services

Terrorism

:''Also see

Revolutionary Organization 17 November Revolutionary Organization 17 November ( el, Επαναστατική Οργάνωση 17 Νοέμβρη, ''Epanastatiki Organosi dekaefta Noemvri''), also known as 17N or the 17 November Group, was a Greek far-left Marxist–Leninist urban g ...

'' A minor terrorist attack occurred in the early morning of January 12, 2007. No casualties were reported. A

rocket-propelled grenade A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) is a shoulder-fired missile weapon that launches rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. Most RPGs can be carried by an individual soldier, and are frequently used as anti-tank weapons. These warheads are a ...

Wasp 58 The Wasp 58 is a 58-mm rocket launcher antitank weapon developed in France in the late 1980s. The weapon was, originally, privately developed by the French firm Luchaire SA, subsidiary of GIAT. History In the early 1980s, Luchaire's sales depa ...

was fired into the embassy's modern, glass-fronted building. The Greek public order minister, Byron Polydoras, said an anonymous phone call claiming to be from the left-wing terror group

Revolutionary Struggle Revolutionary Struggle (EA; Greek: Επαναστατικός Αγώνας, ''Epanastatikos Agonas'') is a Greek anarchist, anti-imperialist, urban guerrilla group known for its attacks on Greek government buildings and the American embassy in ...

had taken responsibility. On January 25, 2007,

announced in local news outlets they took responsibility for the attack. On March 20, the Government of Greece and the United States

Rewards for Justice Program The Rewards for Justice Program (RFJ) is the counterterrorism and counterintelligence platform administered by the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service agency. The Rewards For Justice program is seeking information leading to the ...

announced equal, parallel rewards for information leading to the perpetrators – Greece offering 800,000 Euros and the US "up to $1 million or more". The embassy was previously attacked by the Marxist

group on February 15, 1996, when an anti-tank missile hit the embassy's parking lot wall.

References

External links

Official websiteMosaiko.gr, US Embassy in Athens e-Magazine
{{Authority control Walter Gropius buildings Government buildings completed in 1961

Terrorist incidents in Greece Greece–United States relations

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Communist terrorism Terrorist incidents in Europe in 2007 Terrorist incidents in Greece in the 2000s 2007 crimes in Greece 1961 establishments in Greece

Facilities

Terrorism

See also

References

External links