Greeks, desperate to find fuel to stay warm because they can’t afford heating oil that has been ghit with big tax increases, have been taking to the woods and even city parks to cut down trees and now authorities said someone has felled the olive tree under which Plato sat in ancient times.
Police said they believe at least two people cut down the famous tree because it was massive and heavy. Some residents of the area reportedly said that homeless people cut the tree, while others allege that a group of gypsies did it.
Plato’s Olive Tree, was said to be a remnant of the grove within which Plato’s Academy was situated, which would make it approximately 2,400 years old. The tree comprised a cavernous trunk from which a few branches were still sprouting in 1975, when a traffic accident caused a bus to fall on and uproot it in 1975. Since then, the trunk has been preserved and displayed in the nearby Agricultural University of Athens.
The Iera Odos (Sacred Way) lies on the ancient route between Athens and the town of Elefsina (Eleusis). The remains of Plato’s Academy lie near the tree, giving the area the name Akadimia Platonos. It has been mostly abandoned and neglected over the years and left to fall into disrepair despite its historic significance.