The National Garden is the ideal place to relax and enjoy a stroll along the shady paths, before you plunge back into the history and beauty of Greek art, or the vibrant hustle and bustle of modern Athens.
This delightfully romantic garden, right next to the Parliament, was commissioned in 1838 by Queen Amalia, the wife of King Otto of Greece. Both were German, and the project was entrusted to the German architect and agronomist Frederick Schmidt, who completed the work in 1840.
After the fashion of the time, Schmidt and the queen decided to fill the garden with flowers, trees and exotic animals. They imported over 500 varieties of plants from all over the world, but many of these were unable to survive in the dry climate of Athens. Along the charming little pathways and in and around the ponds and streams, you can still encounter the animals: peacocks, ducks, turtles and various species of birds.
The garden is spread over 155,000 square meters, and comprises woodlands, a Botanical Museum and even some archeological remains. During your walk, you’ll be able to see what’s left of the Roman walls built by the Emperor Hadrian, a fine mosaic floor of a Roman home, and the ruins of the Roman baths behind the Old Palace. If you climb up onto a large rock, which also offers splendid views, you’ll even find the remains of an aqueduct built by Pisistratus, the tyrant who governed Athens 2600 years ago, used for the irrigation of a garden that was once located here.
Along your way, you’ll come to the Zappeion, a large, semi-circular building that is used today for exhibitions. Originally constructed with great pomp on the occasion of the Athens Summer Olympics in 1896 for competitions and fencing, this is the first edifice in the world specifically built for the modern Olympic Games. It’s well worth a visit if you have time.
Let me leave you with an interesting fact: in a corner of the park, you’ll find a monument dedicated to the English Romantic poet Lord Byron, who fought alongside the Greeks in the War of Independence against the Turks. The whole of Europe was moved by his death from meningitis in 1825, in Missolonghi, near Patras.
