The Maximos Mansion ( el, Μέγαρο Μαξίμου, ''Mégaro Maxímou'') has been the official seat and residence of the

Prime Minister of Greece The prime minister of the Hellenic Republic ( el, Πρωθυπουργός της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας, Prothypourgós tis Ellinikís Dimokratías), colloquially referred to as the prime minister of Greece ( el, Πρωθυ� ...

since 1982. It is located in downtown

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 ...

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 ...

, near

Syntagma Square Syntagma Square ( el, Πλατεία Συντάγματος, , "Constitution Square") is the central square of Athens. The square is named after the Constitution that Otto, the first King of Greece, was obliged to grant after a popular and militar ...

Location

The ''Maximos Mansion'' is located at Herodes Atticus Street 19, next to the Presidential Mansion and the

National Garden of Athens National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

History

The building was founded in 1912 by Alexandros Michalinos, a wealthy shipowner from the island of

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic ...

. Before the construction of the mansion, the site was a garden for the Royal Palace. In 1916, Michalinos' widow, Irene Manoussis, after marrying banker and politician

Dimitrios Maximos Dimitrios E. Maximos ( el, Δημήτριος Μάξιμος; 6 July 1873 – 17 October 1955) was a Greek banker and politician. He briefly served as Prime Minister of Greece after World War II. Maximos was born on 6 July 1873 in Patras. He ...

, sold the incomplete building to shipowner Leonidas Embirikos, only to re-buy it in 1921. Dimitrios Maximos completed the building and settled there with his family in the early 1920s. Between 1941 and 1944, during the

Nazi occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 ...

of Greece, the mansion was used as the residence of the German Admiral of the Aegean Sea. After the war the building was briefly used as the residence of the U.S. ambassador in Athens. In 1952 Dimitrios Maximos sold the mansion to the Greek state at a favorable price. From the mid-1950s until 1982, the mansion was used as a guesthouse for important foreign dignitaries visiting Greece, including Marshal

Tito Tito may refer to: People Mononyms * Josip Broz Tito (1892–1980), commonly known mononymously as Tito, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman * Roberto Arias (1918–1989), aka Tito, Panamanian international lawyer, diplomat, and journ ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

in 1955 and

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in 1980. In 1982,

Andreas Papandreou Andreas Georgiou Papandreou ( el, Ανδρέας Γεωργίου Παπανδρέου, ; 5 February 1919 – 23 June 1996) was a Greek economist, politician and a dominant figure in Greek politics, known for founding the political party PASOK, ...

decided to move the prime minister's office into the mansion (prior to that, the prime minister's office was located inside the Parliament building). Papandreou himself rarely used it however, preferring to conduct his business from his family villa of ''Kastri'' (in the affluent northern suburbs of Athens), or from

Lagonisi Lagonissi (Greek: Λαγονήσι meaning "jackrabbit island") is a seaside residential area in the southern part of Kalyvia Thorikou in East Attica. It is situated close to the shore and on a peninsula by the Saronic Gulf. Lagonisi is located ap ...

, where he spent the summer months. The Maximos Mansion has the benefit of being located at the heart of Athens and very close to the

Hellenic Parliament The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule (ancient Greece), Boule of the Greeks, Hellenes, label=none), also kno ...

, but otherwise its use as the prime minister's office has been described as problematic in recent years, due to its rather small size; as a result, since the late 2000s, various proposals for moving the prime minister's office to a new location have been examined, with the Zappeion Palace considered the best possible solution.O Πρωθυπουργός σκέφτεται (σοβαρά) να μετακομίσει
''To Vima'', 25 October 2009

References

External links

{{commonscat, Maximos Mansion Buildings and structures in Athens Official residences in Greece Buildings and structures completed in 1921 Prime ministerial residences Neoclassical architecture in Greece