After having gone on a hiking trip with me on Mount Parnitha, my guest and new friend Mo from the UK asked me to organize yet another day trip out of Athens for her. This time she wanted something more leisurely than hiking. A short road trip away from the city would do. Considering various options, we decided to head for Lake Marathon.
Lake Marathon is located – thanks for the info! – in Marathon region, some 40 km northeast of Athens – 42.2 km, to be precise, at least taking as a guide the ancient road messenger Phidippides ran to deliver the tidings of the victory against the Persians in the battlefield of Marathon to his fellow Athenians.
The lake is in fact an artificial water supply reservoir, formed by the Marathon Dam, whose construction was completed in 1931. The dam itself is rather impressive, towering for 54 m from its base within a narrow gorge, and having a base width of 28 m. It is also considered unique due to its external cladding of white Pentelic marble, the material ancient Athens was built of. Marathon reservoir functioned as the primary water supply of Athens until 1959, when Yliki, and later Mornos, reservoirs became operational to satisfy the growing city’s increasing thirst.
Lake Marathon, with its pleasantly blue waters amid clusters of green hills, is an exceptionally serene landscape in an otherwise crowded and overdeveloped Attica Prefecture. Its vicinity to Athens center and general non-popularization make it an excellent destination for a short escape from the city, and perhaps a picnic by its shores.
Although sort of complicated and unreliable, it is possible to reach Lake Marathon and back within a day by public transport from Athens. A number of routes are possible, but the most straightforward option would be to catch the metro green line to Kifissia, and then bus 535 (the bus stop is across the grove as you exit the metro station) to the dam. Each way would take roughly two hours. Ideally, however, if you want to be carefree and explore the surrounding area at ease, you’d be much better off with a car.
Since we drove, in our case, we made it to Marathon in just under 30 minutes. As we got on the serpentine road descending down to the dam, we stopped at a couple of spots to get some good, far-reaching glimpses of the lake. We then proceeded to the bottom and parked the car in the designated space by the dam. We took our time to walk around a bit, enjoy the marvelous views, take some nice shots, and munch on our brunch.
Then we got back in the car and drove past the dam to the medieval church of Agia Paraskevi, by the lake’s northeastern end. This is a lovely little hidden place, surrounded by a beautiful grove of enormous, centuries-old plane trees and other plants. We chilled there for some time, taking pictures and breathing in the profound placidity of the place. Lastly, we went on a restful hike down the slope to the eastern shore of Lake Marathon, and back to the car… We were in Athens by late afternoon.
Accommodation and Activities in Athens
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