DRYMOS-SOURIZA-LAVREOTIKI ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
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Impressive remains of the silver mines of the Laurion massif, which ensured the wealth of Athens in Antiquity.
This 73 ha site (Αρχαιολογικός Χώρος Δρυμού Σούριζα Λαυρεωτικής/Archaiologikos Choros Drymou Souriza Lavreotikis) is home to the shafts, galleries and workshops of the silver mines of the Laurion massif that made Athens rich in antiquity. Part of the Sounion National Forest Park, it has been on Unesco's World Heritage Tentative List since 2014. The silver deposits on the surface were mined in the Neolithic period, as early as 3200 BC. From the 6th century BC onwards, the discovery of new underground veins was accompanied by intense activity, as Athens employed thousands of slaves here, digging the hills over an area of 200 km2. The low height of the galleries suggests that it was mainly teenagers who worked underground. In any case, the mines enabled the city to build a powerful navy and dominate Greece until the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC). They were abandoned during the Roman period, then rediscovered in the 19th century. This led to the creation of the Compagnie française des mines du Laurion. For more than a century, from 1875 to 1977, this Parisian company created vast facilities (including a railroad) to extract not only silver, but also lead, zinc, manganese and cadmium. A vast array of modern and ancient remains can be found not only on the archaeological site itself, but also throughout the Laurion massif.
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