Cycling Penteli mountain (Athens - GREECE)

I always wanted to be on the top of Penteli mountain when I see it from my balcony during sunset bathed in orange color. So yesterday when I saw the weather cleared I decided to go for it, cycling.

The route from Kifisia center its around 13km to the top, although its not much distance its a quite challenging ride as the uphill is pretty steep, especially once you hit the hairpins halfway to the top, I was checking many times the grade and it was mostly 10%!Due to lack of time to make it up and down before the light goes out I didn't manage to do sightseeing, there are some interesting spots to explore like a cave, a few churches and an abandoned quarry. Penteli is supposed to be the mountain where the marble used to build the Acropolis was extracted.Map by Google maps

 

Elevation chart, destination at 1.109 meters high
By Bike Route Toaster

 Penteli mountain looks like this from my balcony. It is situated northeast of Athens and its highest point, peak Pyrgari has an elevation of 1.109 meters. That peak was also my target destination.

 From Kifisia, once I left the houses behind I reached here which is the start of the road to take you up to the mountain

 Getting a bit closer to the mountain

 Slowly slowly the Athens landscape started to reveal itself

 Look what I found on the way up! This guy-gal was going downhill but as I approached changed his/her mind and started going uphill again :)

 Near the top, beautiful vista

 The highest peak and top of Penteli mountain with its small little church (which now has radio antennas) and the abandoned military radar base

 Beautiful vista on my way down

 Thats the way you have to go uphill to reach the top, many steep hairpins

 Made a stop to enjoy the view while the sun was going down

 One last stop for the view before going full downhill to manage to be out of the mountain before the twilight

Watched a beautiful sunset on my way down the mountain :)

All in all was a great ride. You need to be VERY careful on the way down as due to the steepness of the road you can go very fast, I reached 50km/h going downhill in no time, the condition of the road is not very good with many potholes which can easily give you an accident considering you are going down fast.

Totally recommended ride, I will be going back as well, no sunset this time but with more time in order to check on the sights :)

Cycling Parnitha mountain (Athens - GREECE)

Map by goggle maps

Decided to go cycling up to Parnitha mountain, on the north of Athens. Its the highest peak in Attica with an elevation of 1.413m. The route cycled is from Iraklio train station to Mpafi shelter, around 30km total, one way. There is A LOT of traffic on most of the way, until the casino cable-car.

Due to very late start we spent a night on the start of the mountain near the cable car station leading to the Regency Casino Mont Parnes. Took the chance to use it, some nice views of Athens during twilight zone through the cable car.

Twilight zone and Athens landscape through the cable car

Started cycling up the mountain, ten long hairpins to the top and as we got higher slowly slowly Athens landscape started revealing it self.

One of the hairpins to the top

Cute pine cones all around

Just a bit above 1.000m we made a stop to breathe some fresh air

The way we came from cycling

Welcome to Parnitha sign

 Unfortunately a big portion of Parnitha forest was burned during the big fire of 2007 (among with much of the wild deer population).

The once sanatorium of Athens lays in decay near the top of the mountain. It was erected on 1914 and functioned for more than 30 years. Many of the patients didn't make it out of it alive. It is estimated that during the 30s, more than 100.000 people died from tuberculosis in Greece. It shut down on the end of the 60s and became a hotel. Finally in the 80s the building got abandoned and lay there all these years in decay... you can actually go inside and linger on places where people suffered and many of them died...

The "Park of Souls" stands in front of the sanatorium. Wooden sculptures made by artist Spyros Dasiotis symbolize the feelings of the patients who suffered and many died inside the sanatorium. Inside the park there is a sign that reads: "We love the earth, the people and the animals. The reptiles, the sky and the insects. We, we are all together as well. Together the sky and the earth". Greek poet John Ritsos spent six months in the sanatorium in 1937-38. He didn't manage to get cured but he kept on writing, this extract is from the "Symphony of Spring" written during that period.

The Park of Souls

Extract from "The Symphony of Spring" by John Ritsos

Passed by a few wild deer and finally managed to spot Mpafi shelter, our final destination for some food and rest before turning back

Wild deer

Mpafi shelter on the down left

 The food and tea in the shelter was excellent, some nice views with the Athens landscape on the far horizon and the back of the casino. A few friendly healthy cats begging for food here and there.

Athens landscape on the horizon, the back of the casino on the right

After some rest we took our bicycles for the way back...

All in all it was a nice ride but maybe my expectations were much higher. There is too much traffic in a big part of the route until the casino cable car. Lots of the forest near the top is -sadly- burned and somehow I was expecting the whole scenery more beautiful. Nevertheless it was worth going, the air was very fresh and clean, was some kind of a shock to cycle back to the city!