A city that embraces the mountain

Hymettus is not an isolated mountain. Urban areas almost surround it entirely.

The neighbourhoods. To the west lie Athens, Zografou, Kaisariani, Vyronas, Ymittos, Argyroupoli, Elliniko, Glyfada, Voula and Vouliagmeni. To the east, Varkiza, Vari, Markopoulo and Paiania. To the north, Papagou, Cholargos, Agia Paraskevi, Gerakas and Glyka Nera. On the western side there are also large university campuses, the so-called University Town.

A protection body. The Hymettus Protection and Development Association (ΣΠΑΥ) presents itself on its website as a special-purpose association of 12 neighbouring municipalities, based in Ilioupoli. Its president describes five lines of action: fortifying the mountain, promoting it as a landmark, forest-friendly awareness, a "smart" Hymettus and civil protection with volunteering. The website also mentions a Memorandum of Cooperation with the National Observatory of Athens for a fire-weather station.

Traditional economy. Hymettus was quarried from antiquity, at about sixteen points along the length of the mountain, according to Kathimerini. When the exploitation of Pentelic marble began in 570 BC, the Hymettus quarries fell idle. They worked again in Hellenistic and Roman times. Quarrying stopped in 1976, when quarries were banned on the inner face of the mountains of the Athens basin. Extraction had been intense in the post-war years, centred on the area of Karea and Nea Elvetia. Today the summit hosts a park of radio and television transmitters and military radar, according to English Wikipedia. According to English Wikipedia, on the western slopes there is an ancient quarryman's hut, one of two buildings in ancient Attica that kept their roof. The sentence has no citation on the page. For the Drakospito, a structure among ancient quarries, Kathimerini writes that it is thought to have served as shelter or resting place for the workers. This is conjecture. Greek Wikipedia notes that beehives are a common sight on Hymettus, although beekeeping is in decline. Athens Voice speaks of "the mountain's honey, famous since antiquity". No production figures were found.

From quarry to destination. The old Kakorema quarry, "Ergani", covering more than 300,000 square metres, became a dumping ground for rubble. When it came under the protection of ΣΠΑΥ (the Hymettus Protection and Development Association) and joined the zone of the Hymettus suburban recreation park, it was cleaned, reforested and became a destination for outings and school trips.

The 2011 presidential decree. According to a report on oryktosploutos.net, a 2011 presidential decree (Government Gazette 187/D/16.6.2011) classed the quarries inside the protection zones as inactive and allowed restoration only, with no extraction. The report lists 15 quarries, many of them inactive. Named as still active are "Kyriakou" and "Trias-Emporolatomiki". We did not open the Gazette itself, so this is given as a press report and not as the official text.