In these final weeks of spring, the Julia and Alexander N. Diomedes Botanical Garden, resembles a fireworks display; hundreds of flowers of different colors and shapes, blooming against a backdrop of tall trees and dense shrubs, are on view for those groups of visitors expected towards the end of May. Those interested will need to make a reservation online, and numbers will be limited to 600 daily.
The garden is located in the neighborhood of Haïdari, at 403 Iera Odos, and stretches over 200 hectares, making it the largest botanical garden in the eastern Mediterranean. It was created according to the wishes of the economist and lawyer Alexander N. Diomedes, head of the National Bank of Greece, first governor of the Bank of Greece, and a close advisor of Eleftherios Venizelos.
Upon his death in 1950, this part of his estate was bequeathed to the University of Athens with instructions to create the garden. Its design was overseen by Herta Hammerbacher, Professor of Landscape Architecture at TU Berlin, and work on it was completed in 1975.
