ABSTRACT
Athens1 became a capital city in the modern sense of the term relatively late. Following its struggle for freedom in the 1820s Greece was declared a sovereign state in the Second London Protocol issued by the Great Powers in 1830. In 1832 the crown was offered to Prince Otto of Bavaria, at that date still a minor. In 1833, following discussions during which other towns were also considered, it was decided that Athens should be the capital city of the new kingdom. No other solution would really have been possible, since the Europeans who had backed Greece during its wars had always regarded Athens as the cradle of European civilization, and their feelings had to be respected.
