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History

History

According to mythology, ancient goddess Athena brought a rock from Pallini in order to place it in front of the Acropolis as a fortress.

While she was moving the huge rock, she was informed by ravens(crows) about the birth of Erechtheus, son of Kekrops’s daughter (tradition has it that ever since ravens are black because they brought these unpleasant news to Athena).

Due to her agitation caused by the bad news, she dropped the rock at the place where now stands the hill of Lycabettus.There are many assumptions about the origin of the hill's name.

According to many linguists the name is pre-hellenic.

Hesychius mentions that the name originated in the many wolves (Lycos in Greek) that used to live in the Anchesmos hill range, now called Tourkovounia.

According to another assumption the name originated by the word twilight (Lycofos in Greek).

Some historians attribute its origin to the Pelasgian word Lucabetu (breast) due to the breast-like shape of the hill.

Due to its steep shape, there are no particular signs of human intervention on it.

The only existing antiquities on Lycabettus Hill are some rock quarries that operated during different periods of history.

A large number of neoclassical buildings in Athens were build using material from the Mykoniati quarry, the biggest quarry of Lycabettus.Another human intervention was the building of a large water tank in Kolonaki (district of Dexameni) the external entry of which was maintained until the 18th century AD.

This tank was part of the Hadrianic Aqueduct that was built at the beginning of the 2nd century AD.During the Middle Ages the church of Profitis Ilias was built on the top of the hill.

The current chapel of St. George, was built on the position of this old church, when Athens became the capital of the modern Greek state.

In more recent years,  an outdoor theater was built near the summit on the position of an old quarry.

On the west side of Lycabettus there is the church of Saints Isidoroi which was built between 15th and 16th century AD. Also, during WW II underground facilities were constructed,  which sheltered the air-defense headquarters.

Date

24 November 2017

Tags

Sportevent, Αγώνας Δρόμου, Λυκαβηττός

Lycabettus Run 2020

After the success of the “5th Lycabettus Run” which established the institution, this year we celebrate the 6th Anniversary Lycabettus Run which is expected to be even more successful and exciting since there will be even more surprising features.

Newsletter

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Επικοινωνια

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Κλεομένους 2, Αθήνα

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Email:
info@lycabettusrun.gr