The municipality of Athens will provide the amount € 7,500,000 for the reconstruction and renovation of the national park. This announced the Mayor of Athens Nikitas Kaklamanis at a press conference dedicated to the renovation of the park. The mayor of the capital as well as the president of the Association of Friends of the National Park Ioannis Costopoulos, the representative of the National Polytechnic in Metsovo George Parmenidis and the Athens prefect Ioannis Sgouros participated in the conference.
The 158 acres park, which today is not only a historical landmark, but also kind of oasis for the citizens of Athens, was almost left to the mercy of fate. Structures and facilities are old and damaged, plants are overgrown and the beautiful ducks which swam proudly in the pond until recently are gone. Their houses are empty and abandoned. Where are they indeed? Employees of the park confidently guide visitors to the small zoo. There, behind dirty wire fences, you can really see a few ducks, but even with the naked eye it appears that this is not the previous flock. Police at the entrance of the park mentioned that some of the birds were poisoned, and others ... eaten by Pakistanis. This may sound incredible but proves that not only ducks from the London Lake can be eaten, but their Greek fellows from artificial lakes in the national park of Athens too. And it is not for fun, but for real. A sad conclusion, but at the same time a proof that what the Bulgarian writer Alec Popov describes in his novel “Mission London” is not fiction at all. And that some of us may have doubtful original ideas of how to satisfy our hunger. We can be sure that the “starving” Pakistani immigrants did not plagiarized. They themselves have come to the idea that it is better the duck swimming in the pond to be in their abdomen. Because hardly any of them had read the novel by the Bulgarian writer or watched the movie.
The County Council is committed to provide the funds needed to save the green oasis in Athens. So, around € 2.9 million will be given for the first stage. It will be used for renewal of water pumps, repair of electrical installation, cleaning and isolation of ponds and renewal of other structures. There are around € 370,000 for the reconstruction of the zoo, botanical museum, Roman mosaics and other sites in the park.
Athens City Hall has already given € 1.05 million to the National Polytechnic in Metsovo to conduct scientific and historical research of the park. The research results will be presented in October this year.
The plans of the City Hall and the county manager to renew the “lungs” of the capital started at the beginning of the last year. The first stage of the project is expected to be completed in 2011. It is not decided yet whether the park will be accessible for visitors during the renovation works.
The national garden is the first decorative park of modern Greece. It was designed to surround the Court of King Otto, the parliament building today. Queen Amalia wanted a park there, equal in beauty to European parks. Huge investments in land cultivation and afforestation were made as the area was particularly dry and stony. First, a Bavarian named Smarat afforested the land. The Bavarian king and father of Otto, Ludwig sent him from Munich. 15,000 plants had arrived in 1839 from Geneva by boat. Some rare plants of Evia and Sounion were added. Then, the Frenchman horticulturalist Bareaud took the park in his hands. He later took care of the glorious gardens of Dolma Bahche. Later, the assistant of Smarat, the Prussian Smith acted as Bareaud for 30 years. He is the person that selected the plants so as to best fit the climate of Athens. He brought plants from inside the country and abroad.
Queen Amalia herself constantly supervised Smith's work. The species and quantity of plants reached a very satisfactory level in 1900. The same goes for the functionality and aesthetics of the park. It was declared a national park in 1923 and started working from sunrise to sunset. Later, the private garden was transformed into a state park and the people won the right to walk around the alleys, which were once only walked by royalties.
Unfortunately, the park was destroyed during the occupation and the efforts to return it to its previous appearance lasted to 1950. Its style resembles that of English gardens, but adapted for Greek conditions. Over the years it acquired more classic elements.
Today we can see 7000 trees, 140 species of plants, 40,000 shrubs (100 species) on an area of 158 acres. There are 420 species of plants from 5 continents. Some of the sights are the sun-dial, the Roman baths remains, Roman mosaic floor, polygonal iron chair, in which Queen Amalia once sat, artificial lakes, busts of historical figures and others.
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