The first half of the 19th century was a turbulent time for the Greek region. The Greek War of Independence inflicted heavy damage on the region that would then become the independent Greek state. Following the intervention of the Great Powers, the Greek throne was given to the Bavarian Prince Otto. The job proved to be too difficult for the young king and he was forced to leave Greece after a coup d'état in 1863. Nevertheless, during the reign of king Otto, the mechanisms of the government and the foundations of the state’s identity were established. Those are reflected in the architecture and urbanism of the new state. With his first major decree, Otto has designated Athens to be the capital of the Greek Kingdom and confirmed his support to an urban plan for the city designed by Stamatios Kleanthes and Eduard Schaubert. A predominant architectural task was the construction of the Royal palace in construction during which a major role was played by the king Ludwig of Bavaria. The palace was fashioned in a neoclassical style, not unlike the later buildings of the University and the Academy. The first decade of the Otto reign was marked by the policy of Bavarism, which was favouring the architects who studied in Europe. After the coup d'état in 1843 the king was forced to abandon this policy and provide more support to the local populace. Therefore the Hansen’s Academy was completed by Lisandros Kaftantzoglou and the Cathedral of the Annunciation by Demetres Zezos, François Boulanger and Panagiotes Kalkos. Changes to the policy of Bavarism also coincide with the introduction of the new Greco-Byzantine style that was first exhibited when the city’s cathedral was built. Even though Otto’s reign ended in a coup, it contributed significantly to the nation-building of the young Greek state. The relocation of the capital to Athens established a new center of the Greek world. The royal palace was the core of the political activity and later became the seat of the Greek Parliament. The University and the Academy formed a cultural and educational center for the city, where the cultural, political and bureaucratic elite of the new country were educated. The Cathedral of the Annunciation was characterized by the new Greco-Byzantine style that echoed the Megali Idea which influenced Greek policy for the following decades.
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