The family of Lyssandros Kaftantzoglou finds refuge in Marseilles in the aftermath of the Thessaloniki massacre

In the mid-1840s, after a very successful career abroad with many awards and prizes, Lyssandros Kaftantzoglou accepts the proposal of the government and assumes the position of Director of the School of Arts at the Polytechnic. As an architect, he designed the National Metsoveion Polytechnic, the Opthalmiatreion of Athens (Eye Clinic), the Arsakeion Megaron, and several churches, the St. Dionysios Areopagetis and the old church of St. Andreas in Patra.