The National Garden sits in the heart of Athens like an unlikely miracle. Queen Amalia created it in 1840 after importing 15,000 ornamental plants from Genoa, along with palms from Egypt that now tower 25 metres tall. She couldn't have children, so the garden became her obsession. "I am seized with a veritable mania for planting and beautifying," she wrote to her father. "My palm trees from Egypt are wonderful, they will vindicate me."

The hot Mediterranean sun and limited water made her vision difficult. Many exotic species died. But the garden survived, transforming from a private royal refuge into a 16-hectare public oasis.

Beneath the imported palms lies something older. In antiquity, this site was the private garden of Theophrastus, the philosopher and botanist who studied under Aristotle. Today, ancient ruins hide among the trees and ponds.

VoiceMap's self-guided audio tours use the garden to trace Athens' transformation from ancient philosophy centre to modern capital, connecting Theophrastus' botanical legacy to Amalia's horticultural ambitions and revealing how the site evolved from scholarly retreat to royal indulgence to democratic commons.