The great acceptance of our article “Revealing secrets sights in Athenian suburbs” gave us the inspiration to search even more and find new unknown (to most) sights in the suburbs of Athens. As we have mentioned and in our previous post although we sometimes know the existence of these places, we are not always aware of their real significance and historical importance. In this article we present (in chronological order) 6 new unique places in the Athenian suburbs.
Sanctuary of Aphrodite at Daphne
Along the route of the ancient Sacred Road (Iera Odos), Pausanias mentions the existence of a temple of Aphrodite. On the right side of Athinon-Korinthou National Road as you are approaching Skaramangas, it is not hard to notice the ancient sanctuary. You can see multiple quadrangular niches that were carved on the rock of the hill on which the ancient temple was built. The purpose of the four-sided recesses was to place votive offerings (tamata in Greek) by the pilgrims. Due to the recesses, the area was named by the modern inhabitants “ntoulapakia” (which means lockers) or “parathyrakia” (which means small windows).
The main temple in front of the rock was a small square nave with a pronaos. It was probably in Doric rhythm and had a marble housing. The date of the building cannot be determined with certainty. However, the duration of the worship could be traced from the second half of the 5th century BC until Roman times. Outside the main temple and on a slightly deviating axis, a small house with various spaces was built, which has been supposed to have served as a house for priests.
This open-air place of worship was used during the celebration of the Eleusinian Mysteries. It was one of the stops of the pilgrims who participated in the procession towards Eleusis. Interestingly, in the documentary Mourning Rock by Filippos Koutsaftis in 2000, it is documented that until today, young girls from the neighbouring area came here to place offerings in the recesses and wish for a good husband.
The Lion of Pallini
The district of Kantza in the municipality of Pallini also goes by the name Leontario, which means “lion”. The name comes from the large ancient marble lion that archaeologists found in the area. Today, the lion stands imposingly in the courtyard of the post-Byzantine church of Agios Nikolaos (St Nicholas). The church stands on the ruins of an archaic cemetery, which archaeologists discovered during excavations in 1986.
The statue consists of Pentelic marble and measures 1.50 metres in surviving height and 1.40 metres in length. Archaeologists date it to the end of the 4th century BC. The statue has lost its tail and four limbs, while damage has also affected its snout. Most likely, the lion marked a burial tumulus for soldiers who fell at the Battle of Pallini, which took place in the area in 541 BC. During the battle, the tyrant Peisistratos defeated his Athenian opponents and established his tyranny in Athens.
Many hundred years later the folk tradition linked the statue to the legend of a wild lion, which (supposedly) lived in a large cave on Mount Hymettus and devoured people and their animals in the area. Finally, Agios Nikolaos killed the lion, and in his honour in the 16th century, they built a church here.
Also, many 18th-century travellers mentioned in their descriptions the lion. One of them, the famous Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, wrote that after two and half hours of riding he rested “near a ruined church, next to a large olive tree and a marble lion, the usual ancient monument in tombs”. Today, just 1 km from Lavriou Avenue, the lion and the small church are a wonderful and peaceful place which most of the passers-by ignore exists.
Waterbridge of Hadrian’s Aqueduct
Emperor Hadrian built the Hadrian’s Aqueduct in Athens, but his successor, Antoninus Pius, completed it in the 2nd century AD. The aqueduct aimed to supply Athens with water from the rainwaters of Parnitha. It started at the foot of Parnitha, crossed a large part of Attica, and ended at Lycabettus, where workers built the Hadrian’s Reservoir. From there, water bridges channelled the water to the rest of the city. You could see one of these bridges on Kapodistriou Street, at the border between Kalogreza and Nea Ionia. The water bridge formed a two-storey arc, with its pillars resting on stone pedestals. A vaulted cover ran along the upper part of the aqueduct and carried the water.
For the construction of the aqueduct’s pillars, builders used an alternating system of zones with solid bricks, masonry made from raw stones, and binding mortar (opus mixtum). Although people have made some efforts to preserve and promote the monument on both sides of the road, it remains largely abandoned. Some even fear that it could collapse. On the section of the aqueduct on the right side of the street when heading towards Nea Ionia, several buildings have even been attached to the pillars. It is a shame that such an important and impressive monument has received so little care and now faces the risk of disappearing.
Agios Georgios Galatsiou (Omorfokklisia)
The church of Agios Georgios (St George), also known as Omorfokklisia (meaning “beautiful church”), stands on Veikou Avenue in Galatsi, directly opposite the main entrance to Veikou Park. Builders used materials from an early Christian church and members of an ancient Greek building dating from the 5th–4th century BC, which looters took from the site next to the church.
People believe that builders constructed Agios Georgios at the end of the 12th century AD. However, some archaeologists date the construction of the Byzantine church to the beginning of the 13th century AD to explain the western elements that appear both in the chapel and the main church. The church follows a two-column, cruciform, inscribed design, with a chapel on the south side.
The church features frescoes that constitute an exceptional work of art from the late 13th century. Unfortunately, people have destroyed a large part of the frescoes in the lower and easily accessible areas. The elegant church became widely known not only among Byzantine scholars but also among painters, mainly because of the marvellous representation of Jesus Pantocrator in the dome, which remains in fairly good condition.
Researchers report that Photis Kontoglou, the famous Greek modern hagiographer and painter, copied the form of the Pantocrator from Agios Georgios in several churches where he created his paintings. Today, the church remains closed to the public, and visitors can see it only on the eve and the day of the feast of St George each year.
Agios Andreas in Syngrou Park
Syngrou Park has an area of 950 acres. The land belonged to Andreas Syngros, a wealthy Greek businessman and national benefactor. After his death, his wife Ifigenia Syngros lived here for 20 years and donated the park to the Greek Agricultural Company. In the park, right next to the impressive renovated Villa Syngrou, the house of the Syngros family, is the small church of Agios Andreas (St Andrew). It is the only Orthodox Gothic church in Greece. It was built in 1880 based on the designs of the German architect Ernest Ziller, a student of Theophilos Hansen. Ernest Ziller had come to Athens in 1861 and the city became his permanent residence for the next sixty years.
The small chapel follows the type of the basilica, presenting many common elements with the Catholic church of Agios Loukas in New Heraklion (see our article about Agios Loukas here) and also some churches in Vienna, which the architect frequently used to visit in order to be informed about the architectural developments and the prevailing trends. However, what is not clear is whether the use of the Gothic rhythm for the small Orthodox church was a wish of Andreas Syngros or a choice of the famous architect.
Kypriadou Neighbourhood
Kypriadou was the first garden city of Athens and one of its most beautiful neighbourhoods. The establishment of the Kypriadou district in 1919 was due to the actions of the agronomist-engineer Epamineondas Kypriadis. The neighbourhood was a model district. Kypriadis paved roads with large sidewalks, designed lawns for buildings and arranged the area with large squares so that everyone looks at least at one. They later used the same plans for the design of the Psychiko district. Kypriadou was also an area for artists, writers and intellectuals.
There was a gathering of workshops of well-known painters, writers and artists, partly representatives of the Generation of the ’30s. Thus, in the interwar years, it gained the reputation of a centre of fine arts. The painter Giannis Moralis named this group of artists “Kypriadis School”.
In Kypriadou there are five main squares: Papadiamanti, Papalouka, Nikolopoulou, Karkavitsa and the park of Dimitrios Pikionis. Also, the neighbourhood is characterised by well-cared private houses. There are fine examples of various periods, mainly from the periods 1927 – 1933 and 1937 – 1948. Finally, at Nikolopoulos Square, the visitor could see the statue of Eve. It is a full-length, naked statue of Eve holding the apple with her left hand while the snake crawls at her feet, which has become the symbol of Kypriadou district (see our related article about Eve here). Kypriadou is a wonderful place for a peaceful walk among beautiful houses and green squares. It also has some great choices for dining.
An updated map with all the sights in Athenian suburbs from our articles :
