Underground Athens

Thanks

Foreword by Professor Nikos Mamasis

Introductory note by the author

The (real) underground Athens

An introduction by archaeologist Stavros Economides

Crypts, ossuaries, cemeteries

Aqueduct tunnels

Caves and natural cavities

Underground shelters

Sewers and streams

CHAPTER 1: Unknown Athens: discovering underground arcades in Ampelokipi

Real images from underground Athens, appearing prophetically…

Hadrian's Aqueduct: an ancient underground route twenty kilometers beneath the city

The first official exploration of the underground arcades of Hadrian's Aqueduct since 1925

The discovery of the night shift under Panormou Street (story continued)

An engineering lesson: "Why does the Hadriani tunnel bypass the PAO stadium?"

All Saints the Confessors: the ancient sanctuary to the subterranean spring

The great discovery on Rue Louise Riancourt on Christmas Eve

Digging into the bowels of Agios Dimitrios Square (a new great discovery)

Suspicions of secret use of Louise Riancourt's gallery since "November 17"

Hadrianio below the Nursing Home and the underground hiding place of the Jews of the Occupation

CHAPTER 2: From Lycabettus to Penteli: tunnels and shelters of Athens

Hadrian's lost tunnels are revealed in Dexamenis square in Kolonaki

The cave church of Agios Isidores: a passage to underground Athens or to Hades?

Is there the legendary underground gallery of Saints Isidores towards Galatsi and Penteli?

A subversive but controversial theory tries to support the legend

A real underground tunnel that connects the peak with the foothills (Kolonaki)

The secret shelter in the bowels of Lycabettus and other urban shelters

The old artillery and the legendary cannons of Lycabettus

The two caves around Agios Isidores: the quarry and Agios Aristides

Between Lycabettus and the Field of Ares: the eight refuges, Cycloboros and others.

Exarchia: "Aeolos" on Kallidromiou street and an "ancient altar of Zeus Aghesmio"

CHAPTER 3: The underground arcades from the National Garden and its surroundings, up to Hymettos

Are there secret underground passages many kilometers long under Athens?

Under the National Garden: the escape galleries of the Parliament building (old palace)

The underground detention center and later shelter in the old prisons of Mourouzi Street

The catacombs and Roman baths in the basements of the Russian Church (Philellinon)

The underground aqueduct from the Monastery of Theologus in Ymittos to the National Garden

Exploring the underground arcades under St. Thomas Square (technical notes)

Unsealing the closed branch to Kato Ampelokipos: the unknown tunnel

CHAPTER 4: Underground routes to Omonia and Syntagma (streams, shelters, etc.)

From Omonia to Syntagma: the gallery of Stadiou Street, the ancient wall and the stream

Forgotten stories from the districts of Hautea, Gerani, Prophet Daniel and Syntagma...

The stream of the Prophet Daniel in relation to Cycloboros and the ancient sewers

The network of old sewers (1840-1930) and their galleries as secret passages

Athens 1944: the withdrawal of the Germans, the secret agreements and the Decembrians

The undermining of the "Great Britain" hotel: authentic testimonies and documents

The movie "The Red Train" and the dangers of the underground sewer network

A "parallel" story that leads to a dead end or some air raid shelters...

The monument of 7 Zalokosta Street and the second "Merlin" in the basement shelter

From the basements of the City Hall to the ghost railway station of Omonia

An underground walk from Attiki to Monastiraki, in the Elektrikos gallery

Under Ermou: German shelter equipment laws and specifications

The German detention centers on Korai Street and other utilized places of historical memory

CHAPTER 5: The underground network of Ilissos, Ardittos and the galleries of Kaisariani

The first contact with the underground Ilisos: from Kaisariani to Kallithea

The sacred river Ilisos, from mythology to the present day

The branches of the underground Ilisos and some access points to the interior

The mysterious unsolved "riff of the century" at the Labor Bank

When did the undergrounding of Ilisos begin and how did it once reach Faliro?

"The underground arcades from Vatrahonisi to Faliro". Legend or truth?

In Vatrahonisi (the springs, Othon's bridge, Agia Fotini, Pana's cave, etc.)

The unveiling of Ilisos in Agia Fotini: a life project for the city or a political showcase?

The lost underground aqueduct of Kallirroi-Ilisou-Vounou-Makron Teichon-Piraeus

Ardittos in antiquity and the mystical gallery of the Panathenaic Stadium

Underground routes in the "haunted" hill of Ardittos, legends and history

The underground galleries and secrets of the great hill air raid shelter

The legends, the secret passages, the gunpowder mill and the stream below the Holy Power

Other underground arcades in Kaisariani (the Monastery, the wells and the chapel of the Ascension)

CHAPTER 6: The underground secrets of the Acropolis (Pnyka, Filopappou, Thisio etc.)

Beginning with the Prophet Daniel: Secret Movements in the Years of Resistance

Climbing the Acropolis at night from a cave of the northern promenade

Following the footsteps of the Arriphoros in the cave of the Mycenaean Fountain

In the bowels of the Sacred Rock today (the results of an autopsy)

Glezos-Santas: the great decision and the removal of the German flag

The history of the Hourglass spring and its role from ancient times until 1821

The trenches of the Acropolis during the Revolution (memoirs of Makrigiannis)

Searching for ancient arcades, wells and caves in the western hills

The labyrinthine two-story underground network under Apostolou Pavlou Street

The details of underground exploration (and notes on a 1905 map)

The underground arcades of the same ancient network in Herodion (Dionysius Areopagitou)

Pnyka's "Kallirroi", "Nineakrunos" and the supposed "Prison of Socrates"

The caves of "Old Man", "Bad Brothers" and "Varathron" of ancient Athens

A small tributary of the Ilis in the western hills (one underground access)

Koilis hill on the banks of Ilisos. Caves of Blood and War ("Teeth" Cave)

Agios Dimitrios Lumbardiaris: a well to the underground portico of the ancient street Koilis

Hill of Nymphs: a secret chapel below the Agia Marina Observatory

Ancient Agora: going down to the basements next to the temple of Hephaestus (Thiseion)

CHAPTER 7: Underground passages and crypts in Plaka and Monastiraki

The crypt and arcades of Agia Philothei in Plaka and the suburb (Kalogreza)

The unknown underground crypt of the Metropolis church, open museum for the public!

The "Rhinaki of Plaka" (Agia Irini) on Navarchou Nikodimou Street

In Metohi of the Holy Sepulcher (Agioi Anargyri), underground passages and others

Under the Tower of the Winds (Aires) or Clock of Andronikos Kyristos

Is it underground Iridanos water that flows in Monastiraki (square)?

The detection of the underground stream (Cloake) under Kapnikarea (July 2019)

Monastiraki: going down to the underground channel of Iridanos (explorations 1876-2016)

Searching for the aqueduct of the Holy Trinity in the area of ​​Kerameikos (summary)

The underground exploration of the group L. Ross, GE Schaubert and S. Kleanthi (Athens, 1832)

Kerameikos: a metro station that was turned into an underground parking because?…

An oracle of Apollo at Kerameikos (the repeated inscription on the well)

CHAPTER 8: Secrets and undergrounds in the western districts of Athens (Kerameikos, Dimosios Sima, Kolonos, Elaionas, Aegaleo, lost streams, Piraeus, Daphni)

Hidden secrets of Kerameikos: the old, locked tunnel with the amphorae

The cemetery of the officials of ancient Athens and the Public Sign

The ancient river Skyros in relation to Iridanos of Kerameikos. Does it exist today?

Unknown forgotten chapels of Eleonas: traces of another era...

The Second Cemetery, Saint George and an underground burial crypt

The mythical descent to Hades on the hill of Hippo Colonus

The "Merkati" estate of the Benizelos in the ancient olive grove of Aegaleos

The riddle of "Vari" that leads to the unknown "Hadrian" aqueduct of Piraeus

Agia Annis Street, Alexander the Great's Well, Pigada Square (Piraeus)

Underground of Piraeus: the shelters of Kastela, the caves of Aretousa and Paraskeva, etc.

Aegaleo Sinterworks: War Shelters, Underground Chambers, Lost Streams

The unknown cave of "Davelis" on Mount Aegaleo (porticos and secret rock paintings)

CHAPTER 9: In the shadow of Penteli, Ymittos and Parnitha (Pendelis Monastery, Daveli Cave, Kynigos Monastery, royal estates, Chalandri and again Hadrianio)

Unknown underground arcades on the western outskirts of Pentelikos, near Pentelis Monastery

From the basement of the Monastery to the Duchess's estate or to Daveli's cave?

A current, clear look at the well-known "mysteries" of the cave of Davelis

The strange carved symbols of the cave and the "moving" palm

The secret military works of Penteli in relation to the well-known headquarters of Hymettos

And silver and iron mining galleries in Hymettos and Penteli!

Descending (finally) to the arcades of the aqueduct of Penteli Monastery!

"THE MUNICIPALITY OF THE ATHENIANS EDIMATO" below El Alamein Street (Chalandri, 1876)

The unknown underground aqueduct of Kalogreza (from Hadrianio to Agia Filothei)

The entrance arcade to Hadrianio and other underground arcades in the Olympic Village

Princess Mary's Gallery to Kithara Underground Spring (Royal Estates)

The estate in Tatoi, the palace and the royal (?) two-story underground bunker

Underground in Hadrianio from Helidonou to the Olympic Village (exploration 2013-14)

CHAPTER 10: Old hidden secrets in the unknown, underground network of Kifissos (Podoniftis, Heraklion, OAKA, Nea Ionia, Perissos, Nea Philadelphia, Kokkinos Mylos, Kokkinaras)

When the research of the search takes us even further but also deeper!

Podoniftis through the ages. Historical sources, origin and meaning of the name

Looking for the bed, the springs and the underground entrances of the stream, as far as Penteli

The OAKA-ASPAITE area and a dangerous underground business in Hadrianio

The main tributaries of the Podoniftis and their relationship with the Hadrian aqueduct

Once upon a time in Old Heraklion... The underground shelters, Psalidi and the lost streams

The imposing aqueduct of Nea Ionia: aqueducts and branches of Heraklion, Kifisia

When and how was Podoniftis converted into an underground network (technical works, dimensions, etc.)

The Yaburlas tributary: a hidden idyllic landscape in New Philadelphia

Walking on Podoniftis, from Yabourlas to its estuary in Kifissos

The caves of Papalefteris on the banks of Podoniftis and its unknown history

Are there large caves under the city? The case of "Rizoupolis-Perissou"

The vast, labyrinthine galleries of the Kalogreza and Heraklion lignite mines

A small and unknown mine on the banks of Yaburla (New Philadelphia)

The unknown underground aqueduct of Glykotrypa in Kokkino Mylos (central Kifissos)

The difficult underground exploration in the tunnel and springs of Glykotrypa (20/7/2017)

Ancient secrets of the Kokkinara stream (caves of the Nymphs, springs and underground arcades)

In Kifissia, waiting for the return train (one last journey through time)…

The worship of the Nymphs in Penteli, in the bowels of the ancient marble quarries

EPILOGUE: A bit of (weird) urban exploration still… “here and there”

A small (evening) urban exploration guide from alpha to omega…

Attica metro: unknown spiral cave under the houses, in Maniatika, Piraeus

The twin German bunkers in the coastal fort of Glyfada and Voula

Western Hymettos: caves, trenches, the stream of Picrodaphni and the "dragon house" on the "ship"

A trip to Aegina, where we close some (still) pending issues from the past...

Back to Piraeus: the old anti-aircraft shelters of the port

Attica Metro: discovering the Hippodamian city in the unknown undergrounds of Piraeus

The end of the journey, port for the start of more urban wanderings

Bibliography

Additional Photo File and Maps