Life was hard for public servants in 19th-century Greece. If the government lost the election, the supporters of the opposite party could expect a massive hiring spree, while current employees who the losing side had hired would be sacked en masse. Since many ministries were nearby, the unemployed gathered in the square and lamented the vicissitudes of life. The Greek word for lamentation is “klafthmos”, thus the square’s popular name. The official name during the 19th century was “Garden of the Old Palace” because it was designed as the garden of King Otto’s royal residence. Queen Amalia took charge of this arid plot and turned it into a verdant oasis full of palm trees, poplars, and a fish tank full of goldfish. Many decades later, in 1989, the sculptor Vasilis Doropoulos erected the massive brass statue in honour of national reconciliation.