Green light for the restoration of the Tatoi palace gardens
The restoration of the Palace gardens at the former royal estate of Tatoi is to go ahead as part of the overall restoration of the site, according to an announcement from the Ministry of Culture and Sport.
The central idea of the plan, which has been unanimously approved by the ministry’s Central Council for Newer Monuments, is to restore the gardens on the basis of their original layout but according to modern principles of fire protection and sustainability.
The area included in the restoration plan is of 34 stremmata (34,000 sq m) with a perimeter of 762 metres. Trees will form an important part of the whole, with around 450 new trees to be planted, while the paths will follow the original layout. The creation of water-permeable surfaces will contribute to the development of biodiversity, ensuring natural environmental conditions while favouring the growth of local flora and fauna. (Haniotika Nea 18-03-23)
History of the Tatoi estate
As we related in an earlier post, the 42 sq km estate of the former royal family, which lies on the slope of Mt Parnitha north of Athens, was purchased by King George I of the Hellenes in the 1880s with private money. It was confiscated from the royal family twice, once during the Republican regime of the 1920s and the second time by the PASOK government of Andreas Papandreou in 1994. Ex-king Constantine, who died in January of this year, took the government to the European Court of Human Rights seeking restoration of his property, and although the court found in his favour and granted him compensation of €12 million, he was unable to recover the property itself.
The estate remained abandoned for many years and suffered considerable dereliction as a result. However, in late 2019 the Culture ministry proceeded with plans to finally restore the palace, and after approximately a year of conservation work, it was announced that the estate would become a mixed-use development upon completion of restoration. Plans included the conversion of the main house into a museum of the royal family, as well as the construction of a new luxury hotel and spa.
Restoration work under way
The former royal properties which form the historic kernel of the estate consist of 55 buildings with a total area of 15,085 sq m. Twenty-seven of these have been listed as monuments by the ministry of Culture. In 2020 the project was expected to cost between €97 and €130 million, with funding for some of it, including the restoration of the palace, having already been secured from Greece’s share of the EU Recovery Fund.
During the initial conservation work much historical material was discovered, including hundreds of personal items belonging to members of the former royal family, luxurious horse carriages and a royal wine cellar filled with rare vintages. In the autumn of 2021, the forest fires which swept the area destroyed a lot of the woodland on the estate, but the palace and other main buildings were spared. This was clearly a setback for the restoration project, but it now seems to be firmly under way
Cooperation with the Prince’s Foundation in the UK
Britain’s King Charles III, then Prince of Wales, had expressed a strong interest in the Tatoi estate on his visit to Athens in 2021 for the bicentennial celebration of the Greek War of Independence. Not only is there a strong family connection, since his grandfather – Prince Philip’s father Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark – is buried at Tatoi, but also because of the similarity of the restoration project to that carried out on the Dumfries House Estate near Glasgow. King Charles’s architectural charity, the Prince’s Foundation, took on the renovation of and now manages the historic house and working estate. The 18th century Palladian-style house is now a museum, while there is holiday accommodation, educational programmes and facilities for weddings and corporate events.
Following the Prince of Wales’s expression of interest, the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis paid a visit to Dumfries House in April 2022 to discuss possible cooperation on the restoration of the Tatoi estate. At that time the government announced that the restoration budget for Tatoi would be €75 million over the next three years.
Then in August last year the Culture Minister Lina Mendoni led a delegation on a working visit to Scotland to sign a cooperation agreement with the Prince’s Foundation. The aim was to explore how experts from the British foundation could help the Culture ministry in its efforts to restore and develop the Tatoi estate, by providing expertise and sharing good practices.
Current progress on restoration
The day after the funeral of ex-King Constantine and his burial at Tatoi on 16th January of this year, the Culture minister announced that the former royal palace will be open to the public by 2025. “Citizens will have access to the old palaces by 2025,” she said, in an interview with Real FM radio. “The complete restoration of the estate will not have been done, but some programmes, such as the conversion of the palace into a museum, will have been done. The conversion of King George I’s stables into a museum will have taken place. The infrastructure will all be done.” She added that invitations for private sector offers to undertake the restoration of some buildings as catering and hospitality premises be issued during this present year.
(With information from Ekathimerini.com, Parapolitika.gr and Greekreporter.com)