In 1909, at the initiative of Queen Sofia, reforestations were organized to “afforest Attica”. Among the planted areas was what is now called the Syggrou Park in Ilisia
which covers a surface of 15 hectares in the heart of Athens . In 1929, the Forestry Office of the Ministry of Agriculture was established within the small woodland. For a long time the site had been occupied by military huts. In 1948, the new building of the Institute of Forests was constructed and expanded in 1972.