Mount Lycabettus, Athens

Mount Lycabettus rises as a limestone hill above Athens, with pine trees spreading across its base. Its summit reaches 277 metres above sea level, making it the highest point in Central Athens. You can reach the hill by the Lycabettus Funicular, which climbs from Aristippou Street in Kolonaki.

Near the summit, the Chapel of St. George, an open-air theatre, and a restaurant share the hill’s two peaks. The theatre has hosted concerts by artists including Ray Charles, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and Radiohead; after a fifteen-year closure, it reopened in September 2023.

As local legend has it, Athena made this hill by dropping a limestone mountain she carried for the Acropolis when the box holding Erichthonius was opened. Another story connects its name with wolves, from the Greek word lycos.