The Presidential Mansion is the official home of the Greek President, standing on Herodou Attikou Street beside the National Garden and guarded by kilted Evzones. Discover it alongside skip-the-line sightseeing tickets and tours from My Greece Tours.
This stately landmark is a fine stop in the Athens travel guide. The sections below cover what the mansion is, its history and architecture, the changing of the guard, the Evzones who guard it, and how to visit it.
What is the Presidential Mansion in Athens?
The Presidential Mansion is the official seat of Greece’s President, set on Herodou Attikou Street directly behind the National Garden in central Athens. Built in the 1890s as a royal palace, it became the presidential residence after Greece abolished the monarchy. It is a grand neoclassical building set in an extensive garden and guarded around the clock by Evzones, the ceremonial Presidential Guard in traditional uniform. The interior is not open to the public, but the exterior and guard are a popular sight.
The Presidential Mansion is the seat and official home of Greece’s head of state, the President of the Hellenic Republic. It stands on Herodou Attikou Street, one of the most elegant addresses in Athens, immediately behind the green expanse of the National Garden and a short walk from Syntagma Square and the Parliament.
The building began life in the 1890s as a royal palace, the residence of the Greek monarchy, and only later became the presidential residence after the monarchy was abolished in the twentieth century. Today it is closely bound up with the political life of the country, used for the President’s official duties and state ceremonies. Set in a large, handsome garden and protected day and night by the kilted Evzones of the Presidential Guard, it is one of the most photographed official buildings in the city, even though its richly furnished interior is not generally open to ordinary visitors.
What is the history and architecture of the mansion?
The Presidential Mansion was built in the 1890s to designs by the German architect Ernst Ziller, the leading neoclassical architect of nineteenth-century Athens, originally as the Crown Prince’s palace. It combines neoclassical proportions with refined, elitist detailing, set in a large landscaped garden. After the monarchy ended, it served first as the royal palace and then, from the mid-twentieth century, as the official seat of the President of the Republic. Its dignified architecture reflects its status as a building at the heart of Greek public life.
The mansion is a product of the great age of neoclassical Athens. It went up in the 1890s to the designs of Ernst Ziller, the German-born architect who shaped so much of the nineteenth-century capital and was responsible for many of its finest public and private buildings, and it was first intended as the palace of the Crown Prince.
Architecturally it is a refined exercise in neoclassicism, with balanced proportions, classical detailing and an air of restrained grandeur, surrounded by a large and impressive landscaped garden that screens it from the street. Its role changed with the country’s history: it served the royal family as a palace, and after Greece became a republic and abolished the monarchy in the twentieth century, it was repurposed as the official seat of the Greek President. That continuity, from royal palace to presidential mansion, makes the building a physical record of modern Greek political history, which adds to the interest of seeing it from the street.
What is the changing of the guard?
The changing of the guard is the ceremony in which the Evzones who stand sentry are relieved by a fresh pair, performed at the Presidential Mansion and at the nearby Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Syntagma Square. The guard changes every hour on the hour throughout the day, with a small slow-marching ritual. The grand ceremony takes place every Sunday at 11:00, when a large company of Evzones with a military band processes from their barracks across Syntagma to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
One of the great attractions of the area is watching the changing of the guard, the ritual relief of the Evzone sentries. It is performed both at the Presidential Mansion on Herodou Attikou Street and, more publicly, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier just below the Parliament on Syntagma Square.
On an ordinary day the guard changes every hour, on the hour, when the standing Evzones are replaced by a fresh pair in a short, stylised sequence of slow, exaggerated high-stepping marches and precise movements. The set-piece version comes every Sunday at eleven in the morning, when a sizeable detachment of Evzones, with a military band, parades in full ceremonial dress from the guard barracks on Herodou Attikou down to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for the grand weekly ceremony. It is free to watch, deeply theatrical and one of the most popular spectacles in central Athens, drawing crowds at both locations.
Who are the Evzones who guard it?
The Evzones are the guardsmen of the Presidential Guard, an elite ceremonial unit of the Greek army that guards the Presidential Mansion and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They wear a distinctive traditional uniform: a pleated white kilt called the foustanella, with 400 pleats, long white stockings, and red clogs with black pom-poms called tsarouchia. Chosen for their height and bearing, the Evzones are a living symbol of Greek national pride and tradition, and their barracks stand on Herodou Attikou beside the mansion.
The instantly recognisable guards are the Evzones, the guardsmen of the Presidential Guard, an elite ceremonial unit of the Hellenic Army whose duty is to guard the Presidential Mansion and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Their barracks sit at 2 Herodou Attikou Street, right beside the mansion, from where they march to their posts.
What makes them unforgettable is the traditional uniform, rooted in the dress of the nineteenth-century Greek fighters of the War of Independence. It centres on the foustanella, a pleated white kilt said to carry four hundred pleats, worn with long white woollen stockings and the tsarouchia, heavy red leather clogs tipped with large black pom-poms. The men are selected for their height and military bearing, and their slow, formal movements are designed to honour the fallen and embody the dignity of the state. For Greeks the Evzones are a powerful symbol of national pride, tradition and continuity, and watching them stand guard or march is one of the defining images of a visit to Athens.
The setting adds much to the experience of seeing the mansion. Herodou Attikou Street, where it stands, is widely regarded as one of the most elegant streets in Athens, a quiet, tree-lined avenue of dignified mansions, embassies and gardens running along the eastern edge of the National Garden. Strolling its pavement, away from the bustle of nearby Syntagma, is a pleasure in itself, and the calm, leafy atmosphere is a world apart from the crowded ancient sites a few streets away.
Photographers and first-time visitors should know what to expect at the gate. The Evzone sentries stand motionless at their posts and change in a short ritual on the hour, and while you are welcome to photograph them and stand nearby, you should not touch them, block their path or mock their movements, as they are serving soldiers performing a solemn duty. A supervising guard is usually on hand to keep onlookers at a respectful distance during the change.
For the fullest experience, plan your timing around the ceremonies. Catching an hourly change at the mansion or, better, the larger weekly Sunday ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier rewards the short walk to Syntagma, and combining both with a wander through the National Garden makes a relaxed, cost-free half-day that blends pageantry, history and greenery in the very heart of the city.
How do you visit the Presidential Mansion?
You visit the Presidential Mansion by viewing it from Herodou Attikou Street, as the interior is not normally open to the public. The exterior, the garden railings and the Evzone sentries can be seen and photographed freely, and the area is a short walk from Syntagma metro station on lines 2 and 3. Combine it with the National Garden next door, the Sunday 11:00 ceremony, and the hourly guard change at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Syntagma Square for the full experience.
Visiting the Presidential Mansion is a matter of seeing it from outside, since the interior is reserved for the President’s official functions and is not open to the public. The reward is the exterior view: the dignified neoclassical façade behind its garden, and the Evzone sentries standing guard at the entrance, all of which you can admire and photograph freely from the pavement of Herodou Attikou Street.
The location could hardly be more central. The mansion lies just behind the National Garden, only a short walk from Syntagma Square and the Syntagma metro station served by lines 2 and 3, so it is easy to fold into a day in the historic centre. The best plan is to combine it with a stroll through the adjoining National Garden, time your visit to catch the Evzones, and walk the short distance to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Syntagma to watch the hourly guard change or the grand Sunday ceremony at eleven. Together these make a memorable, cost-free morning. The questions below cover what visitors ask most.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you go inside the Presidential Mansion in Athens?
No, the interior of the Presidential Mansion is not usually open to the public, as it serves the official duties of the President of the Hellenic Republic. Visitors can view and photograph the neoclassical exterior, the garden and the Evzone guards from Herodou Attikou Street. The building lies beside the National Garden, a short walk from Syntagma Square and the Syntagma metro station on lines 2 and 3.
When is the changing of the guard at the Presidential Mansion?
The guard changes every hour, on the hour, throughout the day at both the Presidential Mansion and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Syntagma Square. The grand ceremony takes place every Sunday at 11:00, when a large company of Evzones with a military band processes from the guard barracks on Herodou Attikou over to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Both are free to watch.
Why do the Evzones wear kilts and pom-poms?
The Evzones wear the foustanella, a pleated white kilt, and red clogs with black pom-poms called tsarouchia, because the uniform is based on the dress of the Greek fighters of the nineteenth-century War of Independence. The kilt is said to have 400 pleats, and the costume honours that heroic era. The Evzones are an elite ceremonial unit and a living symbol of Greek national pride and tradition.