Along the banks of the Kifissos river of Athens, there was once a great Olive Grove, that was preserved intact until the 1880s, according to the map drawn by the German cartographer Johann Kaupert. Among 170.000 trees mapped there was the first industrial building, a tannery. The siting of the heavy industry in the 19th century put an end to this immense garden, marveled by historians & travelers. Nowadays only urban weeds & invasive trees are growing. The traces left of past topography are covered by dust & lost in disturbing noises. The darkness of the night though is transforming the place as shadows of dark green lushes are emerging from the dirt roads of this unruly industrial landscape.

This olive grove was planted during the 6th century when the governors of that time, Solon and Peisistratos encouraged the growing of olive trees and vines to produce cash crops; The olive grove belonged to many small farmers and was protected mainly as a political tool for reducing the aristocratic control over rural Athens (Britannica, Chester G. Starr)
At the end of the 19th century the German Cartographers Curtius and Kaupert, make an invaluable accurate imprint of the olive grove (1862-1897) within the Karten von Attica, just before the area becomes the industrial site of the capital of the newly established state of Greece. The landscape changes dramatically during the 20th century when it houses the Greek refugees from Asia Minor first, and then the internal migration of people, seeking work and a better life, from the harsh countryside to Athens. Patches of agricultural land and vegetable gardens survive among the factories up to the mid 20th century, few of them up to now, but not the olive trees. Today, as the industry moves out, the mega projects that are being planned for the development of the few left empty spaces become an issue of conflict between the developers and the people.