Haunted places, legends, mysteries lost in the past and places that cause a slight numbness to anyone who visits them. Homes that are no longer inhabited while once full of life, places that were stigmatized by the voices of those who were hurt and tortured. There is also this side of Attica, the spooky spots that make us want to see them up close, photograph them and learn their true history.
We visited them and we present them to you to get a taste…
It is located in the southwestern part of Penteli at an altitude of 720 meters. They say that it took its name from the robber Davelis and that it was his hiding place if this story has been disputed.
In ancient times it was a sanctuary of the god Pan, while in Byzantine times there was a hermitage of ascetics, who named it "Cave of the Innocent". The cave was explored by the couple of Greek speleologists Ioannis and Anna Petrochilou.
Its entrance is particularly impressive and majestic. To the right of the entrance is the church of Agios Nikolaos and the hermitage of Agios Spyridon.
These two monuments were cracked by the works of the Ministry of National Defense that took place in the area in the 1970s and 1980s. The interior of the cave was also damaged. However, the churches today are supported and maintained.
The most famous legend that exists about the Cave, concerns the Listarchos Davelis who allegedly found a hiding place there.
Christos Davelis (real name Natsios) was born around 1832 in Steiri, Boeotia. At the age of 15 he worked as a dairy farmer and servant in the Monastery of Penteli. From a young age he went into illegality and joined a gang. His much-discussed "action" culminated in 1855, with the abduction of French Captain Berto. The incident sparked a diplomatic row and unrest within the government.
He was killed in a clash with a detachment of the Gendarmerie in 1856, near the village of Zemeno in Viotia. The detachment was led by his brother friend and former leader, Ioannis Megas, who left the gang after a confrontation with Davelis over μάτια the eyes of the Italian countess Louisa Bancoli.
In one of the stories that "follow" the reputation of the robber, Davelis appears to kidnap the famous Italian philhellene Duchess of Placentia, in order to demand ransom for her release. At the same time, the myth of the "fiery love" between the Duchess and the Archilist began to develop.
The Parnitha Sanatorium is one of the most discussed and haunted places in Greece. It opened its doors in 1912 for the treatment of people suffering from tuberculosis.
Thousands of people from all over the country but mainly from Athens ended up in the sanatorium.
Most of them came for treatment and to take advantage of the fresh air of Parnitha but because they could not pay for the treatment (ranging from 300 to 480 drachmas per month) they camped outside it. Many people were hospitalized there, including the poets Giannis Ritsos and George Kotzioulas.
The sanatorium operated for about three decades. After the discovery of penicillin in 1950, the services of the building were undermined and closed in 1960. EOT followed, five years later, as the new owner who operated it for a while as a hotel "Xenia".
However, the way it was built and the fact that it was close to "Mont Parnes" led to its closure in 1960. In 1967 the Tourism Education and Training Organization was moved and installed in the building. The tourist schools operated until 1984 and then were transferred to Anavyssos. Then the building was permanently abandoned.
Even today if one stands in that place it is impossible not to feel an awe. This is probably due to the fact that he "inherited" both the sanatorium and the "park of souls" a feeling that exudes fear.
Over the years, many stories have been heard of people who had tuberculosis and died in the sanatorium and were supposed to have haunted the area.
In the sanatorium there is an outdoor scary museum which "connects" perfectly with the surrounding atmosphere.
The impressive building, an ornament of architecture "Villa Kazouli" is located in Kifissia, on Kifissias Avenue just before the Zirineio municipal stadium.
It was built by the businessman Kazoulis around 1910.
The building is a mixture of neoclassicism and renaissance architecture. It is characterized by the impressive dome that tries to "tie" with the rest of the house. The entrance has a strong renaissance character and has neoclassical columns.
According to a purchase contract discovered years ago, it was confirmed that before the construction of the villa the huge plot that Kazoullis bought (up to the south side of the place where the KAT now exists) had been used as a cemetery named "Mnimouri" or "Turkish monuments".
The fact that the villa is built on a cemetery was the reason for the creation of the stories of the "haunted villa" starring dozens of ghosts and wandering souls.
The fact that during the occupation the villa was occupied by the Germans and the SS garrison was housed and many resistance fighters were tortured in its basements was also contributed to the horror stories.
According to testimonies, in fact, at some point in her huge garden, at least 12 Greek soldiers were buried who testified in the hands of the conquerors and remain there even today. It is also said that even as the Germans were leaving, six Greek citizens were executed outside the main gate.
Rumor has it that the Germans, while staying inside the villa, made an inventory of the treasures inside the building. Illegal excavations have even been reported in its courtyard to find treasures.
Everything of great value was placed in boxes that the Nazis took with them when Athens was liberated.
It is a ruined building located on Smolensky Street and has been named the "Tower of Dreams".
Although it has remained uninhabited for a decade, it is said that it is visited only by the ghost of the cloth merchant Kourtalis who lived there.
Ambitious and curious, he was obsessed with gaining an office, but gradually went crazy and isolated himself in the mansion where he lived alone. In his youth he wanted to become a tenor and often went out on the balcony singing arias.
Losing his property in the last years of his life, the house became public due to debts, he continued to live there until he died in the hospital after being injured, the story goes. The metaphysical version, however, wants Kourtalis to die inside the Tower under unclear circumstances.
It is located at 54 Thiras Street in America Square. It pops up behind the fence with the barbed wire and the tall cacti. It has loopholes and coats of arms of the family that lived there.
This is the Typaldou Tower. It is the only authentic building of neo-Gothic architecture in the whole of Athens that still stands but causes shivers to anyone who sees it.
It was declared a monument in 2008 and was built in 1914, by order of the merchant and importer of drugs, George Alfonsatou Typaldou - descendant of the noble family of Typald with roots from Naples, Italy, which according to written documents dates back to 1400.
The tower continued to be a family home, where it was inhabited non-stop until 1995. The last tower hostess was the elderly sister of Mrs. Kallimani's grandmother, who left the tower with her son, after a robbery, which forced them to leave in a very ugly way. . They have never returned since and the tower remained closed and in ruins.