The Queen's Tower estate in Ilion, on the western side of Athens, hosts company family days, team building sessions, presentations, press conferences and private celebrations in the Mulberry Tree Garden of a working wine estate. The Gothic Revival tower was built for Queen Amalia and inaugurated in 1854, and it remains the centerpiece of a farm with organic vineyards, horses and a winery.
Seminars and company events
The estate markets itself for company events, in particular days for employees' children, team building, coaching sessions, speeches, lectures, corporate presentations and press conferences. The Mulberry Tree Garden is the main event space, and the interior hall, which doubles as the wine tasting room, gives an indoor option. Companies can also book a guided visit for a group: it starts at the estate buildings, covers the tower inside and out, the gardens, the stables, the organic vineyard and the winery, and ends with a tasting of the estate's wines with green pies and cheese. The tour takes about two and a half hours and runs on weekdays by arrangement. Demand is high, so group dates should be fixed well in advance by phone. The same team runs children's birthday parties with nature games led by the estate's educators and pony rides, and hosts private celebrations of anniversaries and family milestones.
Rooms and capacities
The Mulberry Tree Garden is the outdoor space for corporate and social events. The interior hall and wine tasting room is the indoor space for tastings and presentations. The estate does not publish capacities; guest numbers, layout and hire conditions are agreed directly with its team.
Catering
The estate works with selected catering companies and helps plan the menu and service. Tastings of its own wines are part of the guided visit.
History and setting
King Otto, the first king of modern Greece, married Duchess Amalia of Oldenburg in 1837. Amalia developed the estate as a model farm to modernize Greek agriculture, named it Epta Lofos after its seven hills and gave the hills the names of Argonauts. The tower was inaugurated on August 25, 1854, the birthday of Otto's father, King Ludwig of Bavaria. Its Gothic Revival design recalls Hohenschwangau Castle in Otto's native Bavaria; the estate says the architect is not recorded and may have been François Boulanger or Hansen. Amalia used the tower for receptions and never slept there. By 1861 the estate covered 2,500 stremmata. After the royal couple left Greece it passed through several owners, including the Serpieri family, who ceded most of the land to the state between the wars and kept 250 stremmata around the tower. The rest is now the Antonis Tritsis environmental park. Today about 4 hectares of vines are farmed organically, new plantings use only Greek varieties, and horses, chickens and beehives are kept on the farm. In 1937 its wines were known as Tour la Reine or Château la Reine.
Getting there
The estate is in Ilion, a western suburb of Athens, next to the Antonis Tritsis park and about 10 km from the city center. Most groups arrive by coach or car. Athens International Airport is about 40 minutes away by road.
