Hymettus, also
Hymettos is a mountain range in the Athens area, East Central Greece. It is also colloquially known as
Trellos or
Trellovouno (crazy mountain), probably coming from French colonials in the 15th or 16th century, calling the mountain Tres Long. The height is 1,026 m at
Evzonas and the length is between
AthensAthens , the capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the world's oldest cities, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
and the
Saronic GulfThe Saronic Gulf or Gulf of Aegina in Greece forms part of the Aegean Sea and defines the eastern side of the isthmus of Corinth. It is the eastern terminus of the Corinth Canal, which cuts across the isthmus...
and 6 to 7 km from east to west.
Hymettus, also
Hymettos is a mountain range in the Athens area, East Central Greece. It is also colloquially known as
Trellos or
Trellovouno (crazy mountain), probably coming from French colonials in the 15th or 16th century, calling the mountain Tres Long. The height is 1,026 m at
Evzonas and the length is between
AthensAthens , the capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the world's oldest cities, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
and the
Saronic GulfThe Saronic Gulf or Gulf of Aegina in Greece forms part of the Aegean Sea and defines the eastern side of the isthmus of Corinth. It is the eastern terminus of the Corinth Canal, which cuts across the isthmus...
and 6 to 7 km from east to west. In the ancient times, the highest point was known as Mega Ymittos and the southern Elattona (Ελάττονα) and Anydro Ymitto (Άνυδρο Υμηττό) (today Mavrovouni (Μαυροβούνι meaning black mountain) and Kontra (Κόντρα)). It was noted for its thyme honey. Marble has been quarried since antiquity. The neighboring communities that surround the mountain are
AthensAthens , the capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the world's oldest cities, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
,
ZografouZografou is a suburb in the eastern part of Athens, Greece. It is located about 5 km from downtown Athens, 2 km SW of Katechaki Avenue, 4 km from the Hymettus Ring forming part of the Attiki Odos private superhighway network, and 3 km E of Kifissias Avenue...
,
KaisarianiKaisariani , also Kessariani, is a suburb in the eastern part of Athens, Greece. Kaisariani is located about 7 km from downtown Athens, about 4 km SW of Katechaki Avenue 4 km from the Hymettus Ring , which forms part of the Attiki Odos private superhighway network, and 6 km S of Kifissias Avenue...
,
VyronasVyronas , older forms: Viron and Vyron is a suburb in the northeastern part of Athens, Greece. The city is named after George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, the famous English poet and writer, who is a national hero of Greece...
,
Ilissia (a region of Zografou),
YmittosYmittos , is a suburb of Athens, Greece. Ymittos Street, which is connected with Vouliagmenis Ave. and Olof Palme St in Zografou, runs through it. NE is the large campus of the University of Athens and Kaisariani...
, Helioupolis,
Argyroupoli Argyroupoli , older form: Argyroupolis, is a suburb in the southern part of Athens, Greece. The Hymettus mountain is to the east and are mainly grasslands while forests are north of Argyroupoli. The nearest subway station is at Alexandros Panagoulis station...
, Elliniko,
GlyfadaGlyfada is a suburb of Athens, situated in the southern parts of the Athens Metropolitan Area. The area, which is home to many of Greece's millionaires, ministers and celebrities, stretches out from the foot of the Hymettus mountain and reaches out to embrace the Saronic Gulf. It is the largest of...
,
VoulaVoula is a municipality in the Southern part of Athens, capital of Greece. The name Voula , translates literally to something like a "spot". Voula is a suburban town in southern Attica, and the second southernmost municipality in the Megalo Daktylio .It is located approximately, 20 km South of...
and
VouliagmeniVouliagmeni is an seaside municipality 20 km south of Athens. Its population was 6,442 at the 2001 census. It sits on the southwestern foot of the Hymettus mountain range, and its exact location is around 37.8°, or 37°48′N, and around 23.83° or 23°50′E.Vouliagmeni is bisected by a palm tree...
in the west,
Varkizaborder="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="float:right; empty-cells:show; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:0,5em; background:#FFDEAD;"|-----! colspan="2" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" ||-----! align="center" colspan="2" | Statistics|---- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"...
,
VáriVari is a suburban community in the southwestern part of the Mesogeia plain and the southeast shoulder of the Hymettus mountain, another mountain dominates to the southeast. Distance from Voula and Varkiza is 2 km each along with the blue beaches, and 4 km west of Agia Marina, and other...
,
MarkopouloMarkopoulo may refer to places in Greece:*Markopoulo Mesogaias, a suburban town of Athens.*Markopoulo, Elis, a small village in the northern part of the prefecture of Elis...
and Paeania to its east, and
PapagouPapagou, uncommonly Papagos or Pappagos is a suburb in the northeastern part of Athens, Greece. The city is named after Marshal Alexandros Papagos, a Greek Army General who served in the Second World War...
, Holargos, Aghia Paraskevi,
GerakasGerakas in antiquity constituted Attica's deme of Gargittos of the Aegides tribe that was located at the mesogea land, according to the administrative model of Cleisthenes....
and
Glyka NeraGlyka Nera , is a suburb in the northeastern part of Athens, Greece. The Hymettus mountain is to the west and southwest. The nearest Athens Metro subway station is at Doukissis Plakentias subway station...
. Most of the forest is in the north, and much of the mountain is rocky, deforested, grassy and made out of
limestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geologic record...
.
Major campuses of the Athens University and the National Technical University (collectively called "University Town") are located on the west-facing slope, between the newly-built "Hymettus Ring", a ring road connected with the
Attiki OdosAttiki Odos is a private-owned toll motorway in Greece. The Proastiakos high-speed suburban rail is almost entirely in the median through the main section. Its numbers are 6 for the main section, 64 for Imittos Ring and 65 for Aigaleo Ring. They are the outer ring roads of Greater Athens...
freeway with five interchanges beginning with Y and filled with tunnels, and the Athens urban sprawl. A transmitter park for all major TV and radio stations is located at the top of the mountain. Built up urban areas almost surround the entire mountain range. Access to the top of the mountain is restricted to authorized vehicles for maintenance of the towers.
Almost all of Athens, its eastern suburbs and the new airport can be seen from the mountain top along with the mountains of
ParnithaMount Parnitha , older forms Parnes, Parnis is a densely forested mountain range north of Athens, the highest on the peninsula of Attica, with an elevation of 1,413 m and a summit known as Karavola...
to its northwest,
PenteliPentéli or Pendeli, is a tall mountain and mountain range situated northeast of Athens and southwest of Marathon. Its elevation is 1,109 m...
to its north and Aegaleo to its west. The valley areas that create the lowest passes are to the south and one further south.
The mountain ranges features about six to seven landfills in the western part and another in the eastern part.
History
Its landfills were added in the 1950s and Katechaki Avenue later on. The western part of the mountain range were planted with trees in the 1950s. Housing developments were built after
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the
Greek Civil WarThe Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom, United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
which founded the city of
PapagouPapagou, uncommonly Papagos or Pappagos is a suburb in the northeastern part of Athens, Greece. The city is named after Marshal Alexandros Papagos, a Greek Army General who served in the Second World War...
by its slopes and expanded to the south as late as the 1980s by its edges. Marble was mined in the western half between the 1960s and the 1990s and more smaller mines were mined. Mining is now rare since most of its resources are not allowed to be mined.
Hymettus was struck by a forest fire around 3 PM (15:00) local time on July 16, 2007. Municipal fire trucks, choppers, nearby residents and six planes were racing to stop the fire from the nearby Saronic Gulf area. It took around two hours to stop the blaze. The blaze was at critical level after it started and flames were burning as far as Ilioupoli but it didn't reach south. Firefighters were fighing the blaze at a hilltop near the avenue and several fire trucks were parked on the avenue with most of the fire occurring at the most forested part of the mountain. Near the late-afternoon, the fire declined and by sunset the fire was out, burning forest in the vicinity of the urban area and south of Katechaki Avenue.
Its affected level was in east Kaisariani and Vyronas along with Kareas where the smoke blanketed over its residential area, shutting down
Katechaki AvenueKatechaki or Katehaki Avenue is one of Athens and its suburbs' main roads in the metropolitan area and the prefecture...
for several hours in its entire length south of the Ymittos Ring and parts of Kareas Avenue blocking the bypass traffic of Athens.
The suspected cause of the fire is arson.
External links