Lycabettus Hill in Athens
On top of the hill sits the small whitewashed church of Agios Georgios (Saint George), apparent from many points of Athens. Apart from this church, Lycabettus Hill also has a restaurant that serves delicious meals. This place is ideal for having romantic dinners with the view of the entire city in the background.
Lycabettus Hill is also a popular spot when it comes to cultural events. There is a semi-circular amphitheater on its slopes, where Greek and foreign bands perform, mainly in summer when the weather allows it.
The most fun means of transport that can get you there is the cable car that departs from Kolonaki and takes about 30 minutes to reach the top. The paved road that leads to the hill is rough and the trip can get you exhausted.
The myth behind the creation of Lycabettus Hill
According to Greek mythology, Lycabettus was created when a rock fell from the hands of the goddess Athena.
More specifically, the myth has it that, during the reign of Kekropas, the goddess Athena went to the workshop of the god Hephaestus to order him weapons. The god fell in love with her, but Athena wanted to remain a virgin. After a fight and Athena's strong resistance, the goddess took a handkerchief, wiped herself and then threw it on the ground. That handkerchief, however, had what was needed to produce the child of the two deities, Erichtheas.
When Athena saw the baby, she enclosed it in a jar and gave it to the daughters of Kekropas. She ordered the three girls, Aglavros, Ersis and Pandrosos, to hide the jar and never open it.
One day, however, Aglavros and Ersis disobeyed the goddess' order, opened the jar and saw a serpent in the form of a child. They were so frightened by what they saw that they slipped off the Acropolis.
At the same time, Athena was cutting rocks to fortify the Acropolis. While she was returning from Pallene (a region in eastern Attica) holding a huge rock, a raven approached her and told her the news. Due to her shock, the rock fell from her hands and thus arose Lycabettus!
