Mela Mansion
The history of the Greek Postal Savings Bank in Athens began in 1915. The Bank's first premises were on the ground floor of the Mela Mansion on the former Loudovikos Square, now known as Kotzia Square.
The building had been leased by the Hellenic Post Office in the early 20th century to house its headquarters. Over the years, the growth of the Greek Postal Savings Bank and the increase in the number of employees repeatedly reaffirmed the need for larger premises.
18 Stadiou Street
In 1939 the Greek Postal Savings Bank along with the State Pawnbroker Service were relocated to a three-storey building at 18 Stadiou Street. The building was the property of the Bank of Greece.Pesmazoglou & Aristeidou Streets
In the early 1930s the Greek Postal Savings Bank started looking for a plot of land that would allow the construction of privately-owned premises. The land was found in a central part of Athens, on the corner of Pesmazoglou and Aristeidou Streets. In 1934 the Bank purchased the plot.
Well-known architects Anastasios and Gerasimos Metaxas developed the construction plan for the building. A draft of the construction plan made by Anastasios Metaxas showing the façade of the building still exists today. Unfortunately, the project never came through.
Chiller’s Municipal Theatre
In 1939 the plot was given by emergency law to the City of Athens as partial compensation. The City of Athens donated another plot of land to the Greek Postal Savings Bank. It was the plot where the famous Municipal Theatre designed by Ernest Chiller had been constructed, on Kotzia Square.
Later, the Ioannis Metaxas government deemed the building a ruin that had to be demolished. The demolition took place a year later. All other agreements never came through due to WWII and other subsequent decisions and conditions.
In 1950 a new agreement between the Greek Postal Savings Bank and the City of Athens and a new law cancelled the transfer agreed in 1939. The plot that had been given to the Greek Postal Savings Bank had already been transformed into a square, today's Theatre Square. Therefore, the initial plot on Pesmazoglou and Aristeidou Streets was given back to the Greek Postal Savings Bank, along with the original construction plan.
In 1961 an invitation to an architectural tender was issued with a money award. However, none of the 23 plans that were submitted won the first prize. The project was commissioned to architects Dimitrios Tripodakis and Konstantinos Zachopoulos, who won the second prize, and Christos Lempesis, who won the third prize. Contractor Nikolaos Georgitseas was selected through an automatic award procedure.
The construction of the building lasted 4 years, from January 1966 to early 1970. During the excavation, a section of the ancient Themistoclean Wall (4th century BC) was brought to light. The Wall has been kept intact in the second basement of the building. It is protected and can be visited upon permission.
Pesmazoglou Mansion
In March 1970, the Greek Postal Savings Bank was relocated from 18 Stadiou Street to the newly-built privately-owned building at 2 Pesmazoglou Street. The building has 2 basements, a ground floor, a mezzanine level and 7 floors, totalling 12,000 sq. m.
Until the 1980s, the top 3 floors of the Pesmazoglou Mansion were leased to Greek ministries. They were initially leased to the Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office and later to the Ministry of Culture.
Until April 2015 several interior additions, alterations and renovations were made to the Pesmazoglou Mansion. The latest took place in 2014 following the merger between the New TT Hellenic Postbank and Eurobank SA. All renovation work was carried out by the Bank's Construction Division and has improved almost the entire building.
Today
Today, the Pesmazoglou Mansion hosts the Central Branch of the New TT Branch Network and certain administrative departments of Eurobank.
The Pesmazoglou Mansion also hosts the 115 Years of Greek Postal Savings Bank Exhibition.