1st Floor
Premises of Literary Society Parnassos
1. Central event hall
Since 1891, when the Palace of PARNASSOS was inaugurated, this hall has been the most important venue for events, such as lectures, dances, musical events and any cultural activity. An exception is its use as a supreme military court of the Nazi conquerors in 1943 and 1944.
The hall is famous for its better acoustics, due to the panels where chandeliers hung before the building was electrified (second only to the Hellenic Parliament).
Pierre de Coubertin, Arthur Evans, Georges Clemenceau, Winston Churchill, Eleftherios Venizelos and others spoke from the hall’s famous stage.
Capacity 500 people (400 + 100 in the galleries).
2. K. Palamas Hall
mezzanine
Important for the history of PARNASSOS is the room where Kostis Palamas met with the writers of the New Athenian School, resolutely promoting Neo-Hellenic Literature (Hellenic Parnassism). In the hall is one of the three busts of Palamas (University of Athens, Patras and PARNASSO). The FREE UNIVERSITY is based there, with free lectures by personalities.
Capacity of 100 people.
The hall is also available with a foyer for receptions with an extra charge.
3. Art Gallery
3rd Floor – Parnassos Gallery
The brightest hall of the Palace, due to the large atrium that casts abundant natural light during the day. It has an area of 232 sq.m. and is available for periodic art exhibitions. The hall is, due to its natural lighting and due to the attached roof garden, the most attractive hall in Athens for artistic events.
Rooms 1, 2 and 3 are available for daily and long-term rental.
4. Gallery Hall
2nd Floor
The room houses the PARNASSOS Art Gallery with important works of the 19th century, illustrating the development of painting in Greece in the 19th century. Unfortunately the Nazi occupiers ransacked the Gallery in 1943-44 and the stolen paintings were never found. In 1947, the then President Karavias reorganized the collection of paintings and inaugurated the Gallery in its new form in 1949, in the presence of King George II and many ambassadors and personalities of Letters and Arts. In 2015, it was registered with the NSRA program and today it includes the most important works of the 19th and 20th centuries. with an accompanying barcode to inform visitors.
5. Library Room
Ground Floor
The Library was founded by the P. Lambrou brothers 4 years before the foundation of the Association and was constantly enriched, it was reorganized in 1935, while on library principles it was reorganized in 1947 under the late president Ip. Ships. In 1937 it was enriched by the library and archive of N. Levidis and in the following years it accepted the offer of the libraries of I. Petridis, Hip. Karavias, by G. Kyparissis, with which the most complete theater section of the Hellenic Library was compiled. Today it has 80,000 volumes with 54,000 book titles. In 1935 an annual expenditure was established for the purchase of new books. There are many rare 18th and 19th century books accessible online. Also included are private collections and archives, the most important being the N. Levidis archive. In recent years, the Library’s archive has been enriched with the German Occupation Unit archives and the CIA archives on the Cyprus issue of the period 1973-74, the publication of which has begun.
