Mount Grammatiko

What I can see

In northeastern Attica is Mount Grammatiko, a medium-sized mountain consisting of many hills. It has an altitude of 575m and, in combination with Lake Marathon and the sea, is part of a mixed habitat. Although the vegetation in this area has been systematically damaged by fires, there are many species of trees (eg Mediterranean macchia, cypresses, pines, wild olives, almond trees, etc.), bushes (eg thyme, lavender, etc.) and dozens of other plant species with endemic Fritilllaria Obliqua Obliqua especially standing out. There are also dozens of species of birds (eg eagles, owls, etc.), amphibians, reptiles and mammals. The view from the top is spectacular. From the west you can see Lake Marathon, and the mountains Parnitha and Penteli, while from the east, the southern Evoikos Gulf and southern Evia are visible. On the northeast side of the mountain, there is a small church-monument for the 121 people who died in the 2005 Helios Airways tragedy.

What I can't see

The name of the mountain comes from the homonymous village located a little further down, which during the Ottoman period had taken its name from the “secretary” (grammatikos in Greek) of a bey. Today, the mountain has been linked with the Helios plane crash. On a flight from Larnaca, Cyprus to Prague, the passengers and crew fainted due to decompression of the cabin resulting from negligence during the standard pre-flight inspection. The only one who did not faint was the flight attendant Andreas Prodromou, who was not able to land the aircraft, but who managed to turn it away from Athens. Two Greek fighter planes-with orders to shoot down the jet if it appeared likely to crash into a residential area- accompanied it until it crashed into Mount Grammatiko. The inhabitants of the nearby village planted 121 cypress trees, giving each one a victim’s name. The Helios crash remains one of the worst plane crashes in European history, and the causes of the accident were a mystery for a long time.

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