Log in
A+ A A-

The cave of Pan and Davelis on Penteli mountain (vid)

Featured The cave of Pan and Davelis on Penteli mountain (vid)

Penteli Cave or Amomon Cave is located at an altitude of 700 meters on the southwest side of Mount Pentelikon. However, its most famous name is Davelis' Cave and it is inextricably linked to Davelis, the famous robber of the 19th century. Mar;inos Charalampopoulos takes us on a tour.

The interior of the cave was discovered by the ancient Greeks, since the time of quarrying the Pentelic marble from which all the monuments of the Acropolis were made, led them to find the way to the interior of the mountain.

Its entrance is quite impressive, while almost immediately begins a majestic downhill chamber 112 meters long and 40 meters wide. At the beginning of the chamber there is a passage that leads to a small cavity with water, the "nymph lake", but also at the end of the chamber there was another abyss with a dangerous passage, 10 meters deep.

The entrance of the cave is dominated by the church of Agios Nikolaos with frescoes of the 13th century as well as the chapel of Agios Spyridon dating from the 10th century, literally carved into the rock.

In ancient times it was a sanctuary of the god Pan, like many of the caves of Greece, while during the Byzantine years it was a sanctuary of monks. However, in modern times the cave is said to be the hideout of Christos Davelis, the former servant of the Penteli Monastery, who went underground and joined the famous gang of Attica in the middle of the 19th century. Many were those who believed that the great treasure of the robber was hidden in the cave and proceeded to illegal excavations, but to no avail. Also, there are many rumors that want the cave to communicate through galleries with the Palace of the Duchess of Placentia as well as with several more caves in Attica, but this has not been proven.

In the last century the cave made the news many times. During the 70's the interventions of the Ministry of Defense were great, which altered both its interior and the surrounding area while at the same time it was declared a military area  with the rumors starting to rage. As for the 90's, it was associated with mystical ceremonies but also quite strange and paradoxical phenomena, giving the cave a mythical dimension.

But no one will ever know the importance of the cave through the centuries, nor the secrets that from time to time are hiding in its dark eerie embrace ...

Media