Dexameni Hill | The unknown "blood-stained" caves of Dontas - War of Attica
Dexamenis hill or Koilis hill is located in Ano Petralona, specifically above Hamosternas street, at the intersection of Koilis and Kallirrois streets, under which flows the covered river Ilissos.
On the southern slopes of the hill, there are two caves, these are the toponyms "Donta Cave" or "War Cave", which corresponded to the two "blood dyers", as the newspapers called them, caves in the area. Their enormous archaeological interest, (research that unfortunately stopped due to some tragic events) as well as the stories that accompany it, make the caves the "unknown" places within the urban fabric of Athens.
The name of the cave Dontas owes it to the old Athenian family Dontas, to which also belonged the cave of War which had been used during the Greek revolution of 1821 for the needs of the struggle by the rebellious Athenians.
Traditions and legends characterized the caves as "bloodstained" because, in 1926, two soldiers murdered a widow and her daughter who lived inside them. Later, a drunken man killed his wife in them with a pickaxe.
Thus the inhabitants of the area sealed the fatal cave that had been painted with blood, despite the protests of the archaeologists about the ancient site. Today there is a rudimentary barred fence, which "protects" the underground space with the three rooms carved into the rock.
During the 19th century, the hill was called "Filaretou Hill", because of the owner Dimitrios Filaretou. In 1920 the war cave was blasted with a blast furnace during rock quarrying. While in 1928, the American company ULEN expropriated part of the hill and built a tank for the water supply needs of Kallithea where the name Dexameni hill was established by decree.
Entering the cave in the first chamber traces of ancient tombs are found. All are artfully constructed, which testifies that the tombs belonged to important persons, as evidenced by their constructions. In this area in ancient times were the municipalities of Koilis and Melitis and local tradition claims that they were tombs of local queens of the prehistoric era. Another opinion wants the tomb of Kimon to be contained in these rooms, but none of this has been officially confirmed. It is thought that the Donta cave was used by some ancient civilization.
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