With few public swimming pools – you have to pay to use them – and the city’s allegedly public beaches being turned over to private businesses and luxury resorts for profit… and little greenery in the city, Athenians have few places to pick for a respite.

That’s what makes the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center – near the seaside where yachts and beach clubs and rented umbrellas and sunbeds abound… in violation of the Constitution – so important to city life, especially in the summer.

It’s also a testament to the legacy of the shipping tycoon whose generosity is his will, continued under the direction of its Co-President Andreas Dracopoulos.

The beauty and benefit of the Center shames selfish shipping oligarchs who won’t fly the flags of their alleged country, pay no taxes, and instead of being munificent – how about building some swimming pools for kids – hoard their riches.

The Onassis Stegi cultural center not far away hosts theatrical and musical productions, as well as a re-enactment and debate on the Trial of Socrates, and makes other contributions to city and country.

There are some philanthropists – that’s a Greek word the rest don’t know – among the shipping owners, but you’d have better luck getting ex-President Psycho to admit he wants to overthrow the United States than pry a euro out of their hands for charity for most of the rest.

That’s why the SNFCC as it’s called is such a critical contribution to Athens and Greece. Since its opening and turnover to the state in 2017 more than 27 million people have visited the soaring 5930 acre site.

It has a splendiferous 52-acre rooftop park and garden with trees, benches, playgrounds, a playing field, trees under which you can sit in solitude to read, reflect, and think – and feel like you’re not in a city.

Best of all for the children is a magnificent sprinkler in a circular setting, shooting up water randomly from spouts, and for adults there’s no better afternoon spent than sitting on a chair, watching them squeal in delight at running through to get wet.

The SNFCC is the first public-private partnership of its kind in Greece. It was the first large-scale cultural project in Europe to earn LEED Platinum certification, and Stavros Niarchos Park is the largest public Mediterranean garden in the world.

When the $800 million center was turned over to the state there was also a 50 million euro ($54 million) grant to cover operating and open programming costs, because there’s no entry fee and you pay only for parking, which is free on streets.

In 2022, a 10 million euro ($10.85 million) grant was given and in 2023 another $32 million to cover the operation through February of 2026, while other shipowners are sitting on yachts and counting their riches, begging the biblical question: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”

You can see a world-class opera, hear music from Greek to the great Cuban group the Buena Vista Social Club, see plays and all kinds of performances – or just stand by the 400-meter (1,312-foot) reflecting pool and watch hourly water spouts shoot up to music and rejoice.

Besides the National Opera, the National Library of Greece is also there, and the complex’s interior maintains a placid air in a light-filled airy environment with glass walls – a place to sit and read and, as Mary Chapin Carpenter sang, have “cool quiet and time to think.”

The foundation also has given more than 930 young people internships to help their chances of getting a job and during these summer nights the Center is filled with strollers having a cold coffee or crepe, away from the street heat.

The Center is within sight of the sea, especially from its elevated roof, and you can get a good view there of yachts – and further down the coast, the private clubs taking over public beaches. And just 11 miles away is the developing 8-billion euro ($8.68) Ellinikon makeover of the abandoned international airport site that will largely be a playground for the rich.

The SNFCC is one of the last resorts – unlike luxury resorts – for people of few means and families get close to the sea, enjoy a summer’s night out away from the streets to just walk, talk, eat, socialize, and have access to culture, not dog-music nightclubs.

As for the oligarchs counting their cash, they would do well to remember what Socrates said: “If a man is proud of his wealth he should not be praised until it is known how he employs it.”