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Davelis Cave

Δημοτική Ενότητα Νέας Πεντέλης, Italy

Davelis Cave

Davelis Cave (Greek: Σπηλιά Νταβέλη), also known as the Cave of Penteli (Greek: Σπηλιά Πεντέλης), is a cave on the southwestern slope of Mount Penteli (ancient Pentelikon), northeast of Athens. It received its modern nickname, "the cave of Davelis", because of a popular association with the 19th-cen

tury brigand Christos Davelis. The cave is situated in an ancient quarry, known as the Spilia quarry, at an elevation of c. 700 m. above sea level. This quarry produced the Pentelic marble used in the Parthenon and other buildings of classical Athens, and the quarried rock faces still preserve the marks of chisels and wedges. An ancient paved path along which the quarried blocks were dragged on sledges to the bottom of the slope is also partly preserved. Although it is sometimes claimed that Pan was worshiped in the cave in antiquity, there is no evidence of ancient religious activity at the site. A much smaller cave further up the slope to the northeast, at an elevation of c. 800 m, housed a shrine of Pan and the nymphs from the 5th century BCE to the Roman period. It was discovered and partially excavated in 1952 and reexamined in 1975. Among the finds were lamps, terracotta figurines...

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