Pentelikon

Pentelikon (Pentéli) in Attica, located a very short distance from Athens, is the name of a 1100 m. high mountain that separates the plain of Athens in the northeast from the plain of Marathon. Originally the mountain itself was called Brilessos and only one of the villages on the site Penteles. In ancient times, the mountain range has been exploited very intensively due to the appearance of beautiful marble, known as pentelic. It is this marble that has been used for the construction of the Parthenon and the marble blocks are still being extracted from here for repairs to the Parthenon, although it is increasingly difficult to find suitable supplies for this. Remains of the antique work can still be found, among others in the form of paved “streets” for the transport of the marble blocks. Apart from the view over Athens, a visit to Pentelikon is also worthwhile because of the monastery from 1578, which still preserves some remains of the ancient settlement, and because of the caves where in ancient times Pan and the nymphs were venerated. Best known are the Cave of the Nymphs, where some reliefs have been found (now in the NAM) and the Cave of Davelis (either a highwayman or a corruption of Diavolos, the Devil, as the god Pan was seen in the Middle Ages ).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The photos below show a relief of Herakles, built into a side wing of the auditorium of the monastery, the monastery itself with a charming katholikon, and the famous Cave of Davelis, which has a church built inside and two reliefs dedicated to Pan and the nymphs found at the Pentelikon.