About us / History
1886 – present
Founded in 1886, the British School at Athens is an institute for advanced research supporting fieldwork and international scholarship in Greece and across the wider Mediterranean.
52 Souedias Street · Kolonaki
The BSA, 1886. Watercolour sketch by Francis Penrose
1886
Since 1886 the British School at Athens has been a focus for British research on the Greek world from prehistory to the present. Originally housed in a single building designed by Francis Cranmer Penrose, it now comprises a hostel, library, archive and the Fitch Laboratory.
The Menelaion and Mt Taygetos, 1909.
1886–1900
The BSA is known for archaeological research at Knossos, Sparta, Mycenae and across the eastern Mediterranean. The tradition began with Penrose and continued with figures such as Sir Arthur Evans, Alan Wace and Sinclair Hood.
Fitch Laboratory, 1987 sketch.
1974
Science-based archaeology was established at the BSA in 1974, when the Fitch Laboratory opened with Richard Jones as its first Fellow. Ceramic petrology remains a major focus, complemented by chemical analysis using WD-XRF equipment installed in 2011.
A. Toynbee, Finlay terrace, 1911–12.
1900–2001
The School’s architectural and Byzantine work produced one of its most important visual archives. Drawings, photographs and notebooks document monuments across Greece and remain a core resource for scholars of art, architecture and heritage.
From a notebook of Sir William Gell, BSA Archive.
1986 – present
The library, archive and museum collections now operate as a living research infrastructure, alongside the Fitch Laboratory and the Knossos Research Centre, supporting fieldwork, taught courses and visiting scholars.
