The area of the Academia (Academy) was located outside the walls of the city of Athens, to the northwest. In the suburb where the river Cephissus flowed, there was the Garden of Academy, described in ancient sources as an idyllic, verdant place. In this setting, sanctuaries and altars were built to honour the gods, and during the 6th century BCE, under the rule of Peisistratus, one of the three famous Gymnasiums of the city was founded.

The Gymnasiums, initially outdoor spaces for physical training and the preparation of young men for military service, evolved into distinguished intellectual centres where both the soul and the body were cultivated, shaping individuals into virtuous citizens – the ideal citizen in ancient Athens. Later, the Gymnasiums were equipped with building facilities such as palaestras (wrestling grounds), stadiums, stoas, baths, classrooms and libraries.

In the Gymnasium of the Academy, Plato founded his School of Philosophy in 387 BCE. According to Diogenes Laertius, a historian of philosophy in the 3rd century CE, the great thinker founded his Museum and Exedra (place for conversations) there to teach the principles of his philosophical thought. Plato’s School gained enormous fame and the name of the area became synonymous with it. The philosopher taught there for 40 years and when he passed away, he was buried at the Academy. The scientific and philosophical work of the School continued in the following centuries with the teachings of important thinkers such as Speusippus, Heraclides Ponticus, Arcesilaus, Lacydes of Cyrene, Plutarch of Athens and others.

In the first decades of the 20th century, excavations were conducted in the open space of the area where the literary sources placed Plato’s Academy and brought to light the architectural remains of buildings related to the operation of the Gymnasium. However, research has not resulted in their definite identification.

The building in the northeastern part of the now designated archaeological site is a structure with a square plan measuring 40 by 40 metres, which has not been revealed in its entirety. Its foundation is constructed with regularly placed, large blocks of stone, periodically placed in pairs, probably to strengthen and support columns. It is surprising that no walls were found behind the foundations that would support the columns. The few excavation data available do not allow for a definite identification of this Peristyle building, but it has been suggested that it is either the Palaestra of the Academy or the Peripatos of Plato’s School. While initially the building was dated around the middle of the 4th century BCE, recent research suggests that it was constructed in the 3rd century BCE, during the Hellenistic period. To its north, architectural elements (fragments of metopes and antefixes) of the 6th century BCE were found, indicating the existence of an archaic building in the area.

At the end of the 19th century, a mosaic was uncovered in a villa on the outskirts of Pompeii, depicting seven men engaged in a discussion on a platform while holding scrolls. To their left, there is an architrave with votive offerings; in the centre, a tree and a sundial; and in the right-hand corner, the fortified wall of a city. The figures are recognized as philosophers engaged in discussions on an astronomical subject, as implied by the celestial sphere within a box before them. The mosaic is believed to represent Plato’s Academy, with the architrave signifying the Peristyle building. It is also proposed that the city on the right represents fortified Athens with the Acropolis hill, and that the central figure is Plato himself engaged in teaching.