ATHENS 1995DETAIL VIEW ACADAMY ATHINONOne of the main avenues laid out during the reign of Otto I is the Panepistimiou; officially known as the Eleftheriou Venizelou. During the 19th century stately buildings were erected here to house cultural; economic and administrative institutions. The most interesting are a group of three neoclassical buildings that are known as the 鈥楢thenian trilogy': the Academy; the University and the National Library.ConstructionThe university is the oldest and largest of these three buildings. It was designed by Christian Hansen; a Danish architect who had been appointed as court architect by king Otto in 1834. Construction of the university - initially known as the Othonian University - started in 1839. Due to financial difficulties the work would drag on and it wasn't until 1864 before the building was finally completed.