Athens National Garden of Athens
The former Royal garden is located close to Syntagma square, easy to access from Syntagma metro. Also close to Plaka, from Kydathineon street.
The Royal gardens were made in 1838 by Queen Amalia, spouse of King Otto, and completed by 1840 by German architect Friedrich Schmidt. Other botanists succeeded him, including Karl Nikolas Fraas, Theodor von Heldreich and Spyridon Miliarakis. In order for Athens to become more beautiful as a city for the 1896 Olympics, nearby Zappeio was built in the area in 1878.
Its area is about 158,000 square meters and home to more than 7,000 trees and 40,000 shrubbery, along with hundreds of species of animals. The garden’s plant nursery is said to be the first greenhouse in modern Greece. Saplings grow there, then are replanted in the park. In total, the garden houses 519 plant species, of which 100 are native to Greece.