Athens has welcomed back a little piece of its architectural splendor. Recently revealed after restoration, the Koupas Mansion at 6 Panepistimiou Street has regained its warm ochre and terracotta hues, bringing a flourish of 19th-century elegance to one of the capital’s busiest thoroughfares, just a short walk from Syntagma Square.

Designed by the celebrated German-born architect Ernst Ziller, the mansion is more than an attractive neoclassical façade. It tells a story of a young capital growing in confidence, ambition and prosperity – and of the value of preserving the buildings that give a city its character.

Constructed in the final quarter of the 19th century, the mansion was commissioned by industrialist Achilleas Koupas, whose engineering works in Piraeus helped supply the machinery of a developing economy. Born in Mytilene, with family roots in Kefalonia and Lesvos, Koupas established the Neon Michanourgeion engineering workshop, known as “Ergani Athena,” in Piraeus in 1882.

His grand new building combined residential accommodation with offices and shops, reflecting the growing confidence of Athens’ commercial and industrial elite. During the same period, associated with the premiership of Charilaos Trikoupis, the capital acquired important public landmarks and ambitious private mansions. Ziller himself left an enduring mark on the city, designing such celebrated buildings as the Iliou Melathron, now home to the Numismatic Museum, and the Presidential Mansion, as well as the National Theatre of Greece.

Originally three storeys high, the Koupas Mansion acquired another floor shortly after 1930, following a pattern seen in other historic buildings adapted to the needs of a changing city.

The Empirikion Foundation, established in 1964 under the terms of the will of Miltiadis G. Empirikos, subsequently made the building its home. Empirikos had acquired approximately one-third of the property, and the foundation eventually occupied the third floor. As Ioannis Hatzigeorgiou, a member of its board and rector of the National Technical University of Athens, told Kathimerini, “The radical renovation of this important cultural legacy was a key concern of the Foundation.”

Rediscovering Ziller’s Vision

The recent restoration, undertaken by the specialist Palaiopanos family firm, has brought the building’s elaborate painted decoration back into view. Conservators gradually uncovered the surviving patterns in the recessed panels of the second-floor façade, documenting their arrangement before recreating the decorative scheme.

Architect Georgios Ioannidis prepared the architectural study, while conservator-painters Ilias Tzimas and Georgios Papoutsis recreated the painted ornament. Nikolaos Matoulas oversaw conservation work on the marble decorative elements.

The terracotta frieze now also marks the junction between the original 19th-century structure and its later addition. Not every feature shown in Ziller’s original design could be recovered: some decorative elements around the second-floor windows were missing, and it remains unclear whether they were never completed or disappeared during subsequent alterations.

Explaining the painstaking process, restoration specialist Angelos Palaiopanos told Kathimerini: “The original design by Ziller featured additional rich decoration beneath the windows on the second floor.” Unfortunately, these elements were not found during the investigation of the façade.

Nevertheless, the restored mansion offers a striking glimpse of the architect’s decorative ambitions. Ziller employed similar painted ornament elsewhere in Athens, including at the Varvakios Central Municipal Market, where surviving decoration can still be seen along Sofokleous Street, albeit in poor condition.

For visitors exploring central Athens, the Koupas Mansion is a reminder that the city’s heritage extends well beyond its ancient monuments. Every restored façade preserves another chapter of its story, connecting the modern capital with the aspirations, craftsmanship and everyday life of earlier generations.

With information in Greek from kathimerini.gr.