Presidential Mansion

The Presidential Mansion (Greek: Προεδρικό Μέγαρο, romanized: Proedrikó Mégaro) in Athens, Greece, is the official residence of the president of the Hellenic Republic. It served previously as the Royal Palace (often known as the New Royal Palace, Greek: Νέα Ανάκτορα, romanized: Néa Anáktora), until the abolition of the monarchy by the 1974 referendum.

The decision to construct the building which currently is used as the Presidential Mansion was made in 1868. That year, King George I's son, Constantine, the heir to the throne, was born and the Greek state decided to present him with a private dwelling, when he came of age. Twenty-one years later when Constantine married princess Sophia of Prussia, the state assigned the planning of "The Crown Prince's Palace", as the building became known, to Ernst Ziller. Building began in 1891 and was completed six years later in 1897.

On Christmas Eve, 1909, a fire destroyed a large part of the Royal Palace (now used by Parliament), with the result that the Crown Prince's Palace was used temporarily as the residence of the royal family. After the assassination of George I in 1913 and the accession of Constantine to the throne, the Crown Prince's Palace finally became the main royal residence of the king of the Hellenes.

The use of the building as a palace was interrupted in 1924, when the monarchy was ended and a republic was declared. It was then used as the Presidential Mansion until 1935, when the monarchy was restored and the King returned. Since 1974, when democracy was restored after a seven-year military dictatorship, the building has been used as the Presidential Mansion and the residence of the president.

The land on which the Presidential Mansion was built was, until the final decades of the nineteenth century, outside city limits. The eastern limit of the town was the Royal Palace. Beyond that, there were fields and small farms. The only buildings appearing on the maps of the period were the manor of the Duchess of Plaisance (known as "Ilissia" and today housing the Byzantine Museum) and the Petraki Monastery, both built in country areas far from the centre of town.

The limited significance of the area at the time may be revealed by the fact that a girl's orphanage (which no longer exists) was built there in 1854.

Text adapted from “Presidential Mansion, Athens” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Presidential Mansion ranks #758 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #13 of the 123 mapped in Greece. Founded 1897 — one of 562 atlas entries founded in the 19th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 6,024 times in the last 60 days, more than 87% of the atlas. 5 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Athens, 2 km away. See how Greece compares in the castle statistics.

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