Lycabettus hill
Lycabettus hill is 277 metres high, offering a unique view of the largest part of the city.
Modern and Contemporary era (1821 - )
1832 Until then it was called "Anchesmos".
1880 Until 1915 the hill is planted with trees.
1881 Quarry works started at the till then naked hill.
1885 While Lycabettus was strictly guarded, because of reforestation works, the British ambassador Arthur Nicolson demanded to be allowed entry during a walk with his wife. The police officer Loukas Kalpouzos did not allow them, and according to the ambassador's allegations, Kalpouzos attacked him. The ambassador reported the event to the British government and submitted an official complaint to the Greek government. Kalpouzos was imprisoned for two months without investigation or trial and was dismissed from the unit in a humiliating ceremony for Greece. The Greek flag was lowered in Syntagma Square with the parallel playing of the British national anthem. The handling of this situation by the Trikoupis government provoked the anger of both the opposition and a large part of the society, as was also reflected in the elections that followed.
1936 Construction of the "Shelter of Lycabettus" for the keeping of records and important personalities in case of emergency.
Ottoman era (1453- 1821)
Byzantine era (331 AC- 1453)
Roman era (30 BC- 330 AC)
Hellenistic era (322- 31 BC)
Classical era (478-323 BC)
Archaic era (800-479 BC)
Geometric era (-1100- 800 BC)
Prehistory (-1100 BC)
What I can see
Lycabettus hill is 277 metres high, offering a unique view of the largest part of the city. The ancients considered it as an ideal hill for meteorological observation. Its name is pre-Hellenic and therefore it is not possible to know precisely what it means. The speculations that the name “Lycabettus” comes from the existence of wolves (Lykos means wolf in Greek) in antiquity have no scientific basis. Access to higher parts of the hill is possible either through the large network of paths or by cable car from the end of Ploutarchou Street. On the top of the hill, stands the chapel of St. George and a little lower to the southwest, the church of Sts Isidores. A theatre and a cafeteria operate on the hill. Lycabettus is a calcareous rock, mainly covered with pine trees, even though several other tree species can be found here (e.g. cypresses, olive trees, eucalyptus) as well as shrubs. A total of 11 bird species, as well as small predators, foxes and bats live on the hill.
What I can't see
There are two legends about how the hill was formed. The first one states that Athena was carrying a rock on her way back from Pallini, in order to fortify the Acropolis, when she learned about the birth of Kekrops’ grandson and was so upset that she dropped the rock. According the second legend, she carried the rock from Mount Penteli to place it on the Acropolis in order to make it higher, when she learned that the daughters of Kekrops had opened the box she had entrusted to them and was so upset that, the story goes again, she dropped it. Many streams flow from Lycabettus, which now run underneath the city’s streets. Ever since the interwar period, it has been a symbol of purification from the pollution of the city. During the reign of Otto, people would sometimes light up 100 lamps here, which formed his initial O. The architect Ziller had big plans for the hill, which were never implemented.
Bibliography
http://www.attiko-prasino.gr/Default.aspx?tabid=1111&language=el-GR
Last visit 22/8/2013
Yohalas T., Kafetzaki Τ., (2013), Αθήνα, Ιχνηλατώντας την πόλη με οδηγό την ιστορία και τη λογοτεχνία [Athens, Tracing the city guided by history andliterature], ESTIA Bookstore
Kapetanios V. A., (2006), Αθήνα Ζεις; Η πόλη που έφυγε, η πόλη που μένει…, [Athens are you alive? The city that left, the city that remains] Athens: Philippoti Publication
Μolinos S.A., (2013), Ο Λυκαβηττός, [Lycabettus], in Filippotis S.G., (2013), Αθηναϊκό Ημερολόγιο, [Athenian Diary], Filippoti, p.p. 81-85.
Foka Ι., Valavanis P., (1994), Περίπατοι στην Αθήνα και την Αττική, τόποι, θεοί, μνημεία [Strolls in Athens and Attica, places, gods, monuments], Kedros
