Queen's Tower

At a distance of a quarter from Athens, GreeceAt Ilion, is the so-called Queen's Tower a estate-winery that hosts one of the most beautiful palaces in the country - after all we are not Italy or France to have so much - that is also visitable.

With the link Attica wine and food experience - of which the Queen Tower is a member - we visited the estate-winery where the owner I. Serpieris and its executives gave us an unforgettable tour and a dive into its history.

The estate of the Queen Tower was born from the vision of Queen Amalia - as well as the Royal Garden (National Garden today) of Athens - to create a model agricultural facility. The estate had an area of ​​2500 acres, in fact the time for Queen Amalia to take a walk around its perimeter with her horse, was twice as much as her trip from the palaces of Athens to the estate. The vineyards were one of the first crops of the estate. For the formation of the first vineyard of 180 acres, experienced viticulturists were hired from Megara, in fact the wines produced in Pyrgos, "Tour la René" or "Sato la René" were very popular among the nobles, in Greece and in Europe.

After the death of Otto, the estate was bought by Baron Sina who sold it to the family of Georgios Pachis and then passed to Serpieris family which still belongs today.

With a law of the interwar period that forbade large real estate, the Serpieris Family was forced to cede most of the Estate to the Greek State and to keep only 250 acres in which the Queen's Tower is today. The huge area of ​​the Estate is today Environmental Awareness Park Antonis Tritsis.

After the devastating earthquake of 1999, the Queen's Tower suffered significant damage, in 2003 restoration work began and in 2009 an important monument of our recent history was delivered to Athens.

The tour of the Queen's Tower is a unique experience. It lasts 2,5 hours and starts with the reception in the covered areas of the estate and continues with the visit to the Tower (inside and outside).

The entrance to the estate is monumental as it rises in the form of a castle with ramparts and smaller towers in a stepped arrangement.

The atmosphere of 2 main rooms, the wooden floor from different types of wood to the standards of the Munich school, the gold-colored and intensely colored decoration in blue and red zones, the small furniture and the lamps in pure Gothic style, transport the visitor to the romantic era of Queen A - it should be noted that King Otto never set foot in the Tower!

The tour on the second floor of the Tower is always done without shoes for reasons of protection of the excellent parquet market.

Then there is a tour of the organic vineyard, the stables with the horses, the gardens of the estate, as well as a visit to the Winery.

The cultivation of the vineyard of 40 acres is organic, as well as the other crops of the estate (pistachios, olives) and all the plant derivatives and manure of the horses that are housed there are used to create compost.

Today at organized tours of the Queen's Tower Visitors have the opportunity to taste the wines of the estate accompanied by pies and cheeses and to be introduced to all the secrets of wine. The wines of the estate are sold mainly in the shop of the estate and are great for gifts in special packages.

We at the end of our tour, from wines we tried Ilion a combination of the native Roditis and Sauvignon Blanc, Malagouzia, the red Eptalofos from the combination of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, aging in French oak barrels, for 12 months and maturation in the bottle for at least 2 years and finally the white Eptalofos from the Chardonnay variety.

For a moment we also took a tour of royal majesty and felt a deep satisfaction that the public of Athens won back its monument.