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 The National Gardens were created between 1838 and 1840 by order of Queen Amalia, the first queen of Greece. The German agronomist Frederick Schmidt was responsible for planting this garden. He imported more than 500 plant species from Greece and around the world, including many tropical plants. Unfortunately, with the passage of time, some of these plants didn't survive the Meditteranean climate, but those who have survived, create a lovely environment to relax.
At first, the Gardens were named Royal Gardens because they were fenced and only the royal family had the right to walk there. The people were only allowed to stroll around in Zappeion, another small park next to the Royal Gardens. However, after the restoration of democracy in Greece in 1975, they were named "National Gardens" and they opened to public. Today, they remain open from sunrise to sunset.
 The National Gardens distinguish for the narrow labyrynth paths, the wooden benches and the small lakes in between. It hosts a small zoo with wild goats, peacoks, chickens and other animals, a Botanical Museum, a children's library, a playground and an open coffee shop. Particularly popular is also the duck pond, where visitors throw bread and food left overs for the ducks.
It remains in my memory like no other park I have known. It is the quintessence of a park, the thing one feels sometimes in looking at a canvas or dreaming of a place one would like to be in and never finds.
Seeing lovers sitting there in the dark, drinking water, sitting there in peace and quiet talking in low tones gave me a wonderful feeling about the Greek character.
The dust, the heat, the poverty, the bareness, the contentedness of the people, and the water everywhere in little tumblers standing between the quiet, peaceful couples, gave me a feeling that there was something holy about the place, something nourishing and sustaining.
It is lively in the morning, too, as I was to discover. But at night, coming upon it from nowhere, feeling the hard dirt under your feet and hearing a buzz of language which is altogether unfamiliar to you, it is magical.
Henry Miller about the National Gardens of Athens, The colossus of Maroussi, 1939
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