Tourkouvonia is the highest and most extensive hill range within the metropolitan area of Athens. Spanning 4 km, it splits the northern Attic basin into east and west and forms a natural boundary between four municipalities: Galatsi to its west, Philothei to its north, Psychiko to its east, and Athens to its south. The hill’s southern end, which includes the range’s highest point at 321 meters, is known as Attiko Alsos (Attic Grove).
The name Tourkouvounia literally means Turkish Mountains. There are three mainstream theories about its provenance: 1) a Turkish cemetery that used to be there; 2) Turkish troops that remained camped there after conquering Athens in 1456; 3) a Turkish law that designated all uncultivable land as state property. The pre-Ottoman name of the range was Lycovounia (wolf mountains), and its ancient one Agchesmos (near swarm).
In antiquity, the hill was dedicated to Zeus and had a statue of him standing on its top. Mythology held that that was where the father of the gods shot lighting and thunder from. Pausanias also writes that the hill in pre-Classic times was a beasts’ den and a thieves’ lair.
Attiko Alsos (the south part of Tourkovounia in the municipality of Athens) is suited to lovable getaways from Athens’ hubbub. On the hilltop lies a tiny settlement of 145 houses and some 800 inhabitants, best described as a village within and above the city. It is named after former Greek PM Georgios Papandreou. Around it, Attiko Alsos hosts a large public park, sporting grounds, a theater, a cinema, a monastery, scores of hiking trails, and some of the most spectacular viewpoints of Athens. The café-bar-restaurant Hyades offers drinks and meals with a great view at lower prices and without the crowds of the restaurants on the nearby Lycabettus Hill.
The quickest means to get to Attiko Alsos by public transport is bus 224. You catch it from Polytechneio bus stop, near Omonoia metro station, and get off at 5th El. Venizelou stop. Walk for 15 minutes up the hill from there.
Further north, at the other end of the hill range, you find Filothei Hill and Alsos Veikou, one of the largest parks in Athens.
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View (and if you want use) all my photographs from Attiko Alsos Park.
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