The former Greek Royal Palace of Tatoi is to re-open, but not as a royal palace. The Greek government, who seized the property when the Greek monarchy collapsed, plans to reopen the palace as a hotel. Tatoi Palace is the former summer palace of the Greek royal family and is located at a 10,000 acres estate, 27 kilometres from the city centre of Athens. For the last 50 years the Palace has been abandoned. Now the Greek government wants to redecorate the estate and open cafés, restaurants and a five-star hotel with a spa on the property.
The government also wants to renovate the gardens, which house several royal tombs. The farm that is connected to the palace will also be given new life and be able to deliver exclusive agricultural products. The government believes the farm can offer products on a par with the some of the most exclusive products currently on the market.
The Greek Republic’s Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, is heading the project. She told the Greek press: “The government want Tatoi to be a year-round attraction with environmentally friendly infrastructure. It is a hugely ambitious project. The biggest challenge will not be completing the project, rather it will be sustaining the massive running costs that it will incur once operational.”
The old palace itself will have a role as a museum or centre of Royal Greek history. The building from 1872 is now heavily dilapidated and has not been used for more than 50 years. The cost of the project, both renovating the old palace and building a hotel, restaurant and farm will be great. The Greek government now hopes that private investors will come forward and contact the government. The Greek government believes the project will have a budget of 130 million euros and hopes this can help strengthen the Greek economy and attract more tourists to Greece. They make no secret of the fact that it is the royal history of the property that will be able to attract more tourists to this part of the country.
King Constantine fled Greece in 1967 after a failed attempt to topple the military junta that ruled the country until 1974. When the Greek royal family had to flee the country, the Tatoi Palace together with the royal palace in Athens and Mon Repos, the birthplace of the Duke of Edinburgh, on the island of Corfu were seized. King Constantine and his family was allowed to return home in 2013 after decades of exile. King Constantine is on of the Duke of Cambridge’s godparents. King Constantine now lives in Athens. In 2015, he said he did not want to take back the palace, but expressed a strong desire that the royal cemetery where his parents are located should be preserved.
