TWENTY ONE
A mountain famous for its quarries: pentelic marble was used to build the Parthenon. Trails, monasteries, caves..
This mountain (Πεντελικό/Penteliko or Πεντέλη/Penteli) stretches between Kifissia, to the east, and Marathon, to the northwest. Rising to an altitude of 1,109 m, it is renowned for its marble quarries: during Antiquity, pentelic marble was used in the construction of most of Athens' monuments (notably the Parthenon) and for many Greek and Roman statues. The main quarry is still used to supply the Acropolis restoration project. Once covered by vast forests, the Penteelic area has been the victim of several fires in 1995, 2007, 2022 and 2024. And in the eastern part, on the coast, the village of Mati was the scene of the deadliest fire in modern Greek history: 104 deaths in July 2018. Now under constant helicopter surveillance in summer, the mountain boasts a good network of hiking trails. You can visit the large Penteli monastery founded in 1578 (8 km southeast of Kifissia) and the Daveli cave, home to two Byzantine chapels dating from the 10th and 13th centuries (9 km east of Kifissia). There's also the Palace of Plaisance (1 km south-east of Penteli monastery). Currently closed to visitors, it was built in 1840-1848 for an atypical figure: Sophie de Marbois (1785-1854), an American-born Frenchwoman who became Duchess of Plaisance by marrying an Empire general, but who lived alone for most of her life, converted to Judaism and spent her last years here.
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