Αθήνα,

NATIONAL GARDEN and ZAPPEION

Place to visit Originally the Royal Garden, at the time when the adjacent Parliament building was the Royal palace, the National Garden is densely covered by all sorts of trees, where flocks of birds make their nests, rare kinds of trees and other plants, ponds, fountains, children playgrounds and other points of interest. It is a very pleasant, shady and quiet park in the center of town, favored by locals and visitors. The main entrance is from Amalias Avenue, with exits to the Kolonaki quarter on Vasilissis Sophias Avenue, to the Presidential Palace on Herod Atticus street, and to the Zappeion garden and Conference Center. The Zappeion Park is part of the same area with the National Garden. It is bordered by Amalias Avenue on the West, Herodou Attikou Street on the East and Vasilissis Olgas Avenue on the South. A favorite place to walk through and preferred playground for children, it contains the Zappeion Conference Center, that was originally built by Evangelos Zappas to host the main events of the first modern Olympic Games held in Athens in 1896 and then to become an Exhibition Hall to present and promote Greek products. It hosted the Organizing Committee for the 2004 Athens Olympics and is now a Conference Center. A very popular café, restaurant and open air cinema are among the Zappeion Park’s other features. More info