The destiny of Athens was paradoxical: a small town, with a heavy historical past, forgotten over the centuries, becomes the heart of a new national state. Especially in the case of Athens, the choice of the capital is a decisive act, as it signifies the break with the long Ottoman rule.

The restoration and creation of its monuments, the delineation of its urban plan, axes, and perspectives express its new mission at the crossroads of politics, ideology, and aesthetics. The day after Greek independence, Athens was transported to the same place where it was born: it was there and at the same time had to be reinvented.

The ruined and buried ancient city is proclaimed the capital of the new state by the Bavarians and, under the auspices of a Europe rejuvenated by the circulation of ideas, arts, and sciences, sees the beginning of its renaissance and entry into modernity.

The design of the new city is entrusted to French, German, and Greek architects and engineers who had studied in Paris, Munich, and Berlin and drew inspiration from the works of great figures of classicism, such as Durand or Schinkel.

Since 1833, Athens becomes a field of experiences that will ultimately embody the essence of the modern capital and where, through urban planning, a movement that will become universal will emerge: neoclassicism.

This book, rich in illustrative material from the work left by the foremost craftsmen of this new seat of power —among them Leo von Klentze, Edward Sauber, and Stamatios Kleanthis— does not merely trace the course of an urban epic; it vividly captures the portrait of a continent nourished by cultural exchanges and geopolitical uncertainties, which in the example of Athens found the opportunity to highlight a "European artistic affair".