SIGHT-SEEING TOUR AT QUEEN’S TOWER ESTATE IN ILION WITH WINE TASTING AND WINE KNOWLEDGE LESSONS
An enchanting visit at Queen’s Tower estate and its winery and bottling factory, followed by wine tasting of five organic wine grape varieties produced on site, was organized by Caritas Athens on Saturday, November 4.
The renowned estate in Ilion, owned by Serpieris family, is a cultural heritage of modern Greece, a model agricultural unit dating back to Queen Amalia’s era, preserving the aura of its times, most probably unknown to most of us, since it traces the history of Greece’s first royal couple (Otto and Amalia). Its own founder named it “Eptalofos” (Seven Hills), reminiscent of the seven hills of Constantinople (the area had six hills, while the seventh was artificial, each one of them named after an Argonaut: Jason, Polydeukis, Kastor, Thiseus, Hercules, Horfeus, Pileus). It is located at - roughly - ten kilometers away from downtown Athens, next to the Environmental Awareness Park “Antonis Tritsis” and it is an oasis for those who need to immerse in a locus escaping from the modern urban landscape, no need to travel far away!
The verdant estate includes activities, rarely met in the attic urban fabric: a vineyard and a winery, fruit trees, aromatic and vegetable plants, beehives, horses and stables, horse waste composting and processing, as well as a center to raise awareness among citizens on environmental issues!
Its buildings and historic places are highly symbolic. The scenery encompasses the tower, a unique for the country monument of new-gothic architectural style, resembling a castle and bearing characteristic exteriors (polygonal side smaller towers in gradual forming, ramparts, arched windows, even a balcony), its unique rooms colored in vivid blue, of Greek character, its elaborate ceiling paintings and murals abundant in coats of arms and symbols, reminiscent of central Europe’s palaces, its unique wooden, marquetry floor, its paintings, the furniture and the lightnings, its verdant gardens, the elaborate statues among fruit-bearing trees, olive trees, almond trees, century-long cypresses and palm trees, the sarcophagi, the fountain, the horses, the beehives and, most naturally, its organic vineyard, which produces Greek and European, white and red wine grape varieties.
For three hours 48 visitors (among them Caritas Athens Vice-Chairman and Director, Fr. Ioannis Patsis, the vicar of Agios Loukas’ parish Fr. Andreas Voutsinos and the members of the Organization’s Administration Board, Mrs. Nikoletta Delatolla, Mrs. Helen Carabott and Mr. Stanislaos Stouraitis) were guided through the newly renovated, royal mansion built in 1854, by the renowned architect François-Louis-Florimond Boulanger, its estate of different varieties created out of Queen Amalia’s vision for a model agricultural facility for the introduction of new productive methods, thus contributing in the modernization of Greek agronomy, as well as the stables rented for privately owned race horses (where horses are stabled and trained). The guided tour also included the winery and bottling factory, where the participants were informed on the art of wine knowledge and tasted the estate’s five exquisite wines of intoxicating flavors, along with pie, cheese and chocolate!
Later on, the visitors headed to Parnitha and the welcoming restaurant “Kostas” to enjoy their lunch and a walk in the bright green nature before finishing their day!
The renowned estate in Ilion, owned by Serpieris family, is a cultural heritage of modern Greece, a model agricultural unit dating back to Queen Amalia’s era, preserving the aura of its times, most probably unknown to most of us, since it traces the history of Greece’s first royal couple (Otto and Amalia). Its own founder named it “Eptalofos” (Seven Hills), reminiscent of the seven hills of Constantinople (the area had six hills, while the seventh was artificial, each one of them named after an Argonaut: Jason, Polydeukis, Kastor, Thiseus, Hercules, Horfeus, Pileus). It is located at - roughly - ten kilometers away from downtown Athens, next to the Environmental Awareness Park “Antonis Tritsis” and it is an oasis for those who need to immerse in a locus escaping from the modern urban landscape, no need to travel far away!
The verdant estate includes activities, rarely met in the attic urban fabric: a vineyard and a winery, fruit trees, aromatic and vegetable plants, beehives, horses and stables, horse waste composting and processing, as well as a center to raise awareness among citizens on environmental issues!
Its buildings and historic places are highly symbolic. The scenery encompasses the tower, a unique for the country monument of new-gothic architectural style, resembling a castle and bearing characteristic exteriors (polygonal side smaller towers in gradual forming, ramparts, arched windows, even a balcony), its unique rooms colored in vivid blue, of Greek character, its elaborate ceiling paintings and murals abundant in coats of arms and symbols, reminiscent of central Europe’s palaces, its unique wooden, marquetry floor, its paintings, the furniture and the lightnings, its verdant gardens, the elaborate statues among fruit-bearing trees, olive trees, almond trees, century-long cypresses and palm trees, the sarcophagi, the fountain, the horses, the beehives and, most naturally, its organic vineyard, which produces Greek and European, white and red wine grape varieties.
For three hours 48 visitors (among them Caritas Athens Vice-Chairman and Director, Fr. Ioannis Patsis, the vicar of Agios Loukas’ parish Fr. Andreas Voutsinos and the members of the Organization’s Administration Board, Mrs. Nikoletta Delatolla, Mrs. Helen Carabott and Mr. Stanislaos Stouraitis) were guided through the newly renovated, royal mansion built in 1854, by the renowned architect François-Louis-Florimond Boulanger, its estate of different varieties created out of Queen Amalia’s vision for a model agricultural facility for the introduction of new productive methods, thus contributing in the modernization of Greek agronomy, as well as the stables rented for privately owned race horses (where horses are stabled and trained). The guided tour also included the winery and bottling factory, where the participants were informed on the art of wine knowledge and tasted the estate’s five exquisite wines of intoxicating flavors, along with pie, cheese and chocolate!
Later on, the visitors headed to Parnitha and the welcoming restaurant “Kostas” to enjoy their lunch and a walk in the bright green nature before finishing their day!
