Country Greece Time zone EET (UTC+2) Vehicle registration Z Area 32.9 km² Area code 210 Regional unit North Athens | Elevation 422 m (1,385 ft) Postal code 152 36 Website www.penteli.gr Local time Sunday 7:56 PM Administrative region Attica | |
 | ||
Weather 16°C, Wind SE at 8 km/h, 43% Humidity | ||
Penteli (Greek: Πεντέλη) is a town and a municipality in the North Athens regional unit, Attica, Greece. It belongs to the Athens metropolitan area. It takes its name from the Penteli mountain.
Contents
Map of Penteli, Greece
Municipality
The municipality Penteli was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 3 former municipalities, that became municipal units:
Geography
Penteli is situated on the southern slopes of the limestone Penteli mountains. The municipality has an area of 36.064 km2, the municipal unit Penteli 28.878 km2. It is 14 km northeast of central Athens. Some of the neighbourhoods of Penteli are Agia Triada, Agios Dimitrios, Daou and Kallithea.
History
The bones of prehistoric animals - mastodons, rhinoceros, antelope, and giraffe, along with giant turtles, hyenas and other animals no longer extant in the area - have been found among the limestone crags of the mountain that looms over the present suburb of Athens. The Penteli mountains were renowned in Classical Greece as well as in the Roman Empire as a source of the marble, which was also used to build the Parthenon. The Romans constructed a 140-foot water tower and aqueduct to supply water to the city of Athens.
During the Greek War of Independence, the French philhellene Sophie de Marbois-Lebrun, Duchess of Plaisance supported the revolutionary leaders. When she settled in Greece in 1834, she bought large plots of land in Athens and on the Penteli mountain. She had the Rododafni Castle in Penteli built for her.
In July 1995, Penteli was ravaged by a large forest fire. According to Turkish former prime minister, Mesut Yilmaz, many of the forest fires that raged the Greek countryside during that summer were accually started by Turkish secret service agents. The forests of Penteli suffered damage again from the August 2007 fires.