National Garden, Athens

The National Garden is a public park spreading across 15.5 hectares in central Athens. Ancient remains are preserved within it, including Roman structures, column fragments, mosaics, and a substantial marble inscription. Queen Amalia commissioned the garden in 1838, and Friedrich Schmidt designed it; his planting scheme brought more than 500 plant species to the site.

The Mediterranean climate proved too severe for many of them. Look for the busts along the southeast side: they honour Ioannis Kapodistrias, Greece’s first governor, and Jean-Gabriel Eynard. Busts on the south side commemorate the poets Dionysios Solomos, writer of the Greek national anthem, and Aristotelis Valaoritis. The garden also carries an extraordinary political story: King Alexander died of sepsis three weeks after a pet monkey bit him here on September 30, 1920.