Kaisariani Bus routes/schedule

Philodassiki organization (managers of Kaisariani Aesthetic  Forest)

Good Map of Kaisariani Forest

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto II

Yet are thy skies as blue, thy crags as wild;  

Sweet are thy groves, and verdant are thy fields, 

 Thine olive ripe as when Minerva smiled,  

And still his honied wealth Hymettus yields;

There the blithe bee his fragrant fortress builds, 

 The freeborn wanderer of thy mountain-air;

 Apollo still thy long, long summer gilds,  

Still in his beam Mendeli's marbles glare; 

 Art, Glory, Freedom fail, but Nature still is fair.

MT. HYMETTUS CLEAN-UP

Sunday, April 2, 2006

"Art, Glory, Freedom fail, but Nature still is fair."
                        Lord Byron, inspired by Mt. Hymettus ca. 1810

Forty-five stalwart souls joined HELADA's homage to the Greek landscape! Dispersed in eight teams plus a picnic squad, our volunteers marched forth and gathered almost one ton of trash from the roadsides, gullies, trails and picnic areas of Mt. Hymettus. 

  Permission to clean up trash on the mountain was kindly granted by the Forest Authority of Pendeli and the Philodassiki Enosi of Athens (www.philodassiki.org). 

Schedule for Sunday April 2, 2006 

1000    We assembled at the upper gate of the Kaisariani cemetery and divided in teams.

1030    Carpool up the mountain to assigned areas.

1215    Ferry trash bags down the mountain.

1300    Reassemble at Kaisariani Monastery for a splendid pot-luck community picnic outside the monastery, followed by a brief talk on the archaeology of Hymettus (the ancient sanctuary of weather god Zeus) by Nancy Bookidis of the American School of Classical Studies. Ms. Angelidaki of the Philodassiki Enosi  was prevented by illness from giving her promised talk on the Kaisariani Aesthetic Forest and the work of Philodassiki.

1430    Return to Athens

Warm thanks to John Lewis of Biotrek, Greece's main manufacturer of seasonings and food flavors, for the donation of 200 sturdy blue plastic sacks.

Photos of the Mt. Hymettus Cleanup

Photos of the Picnic

Nancy Bookides's Talk on Hymettus Zeus Sanctuary

Key Phone Numbers for Kaisariani Forest

Filodassiki Enosi Athinon (Forestlovers' Union of Athens)
 Irodotou 10, Athens 10675
 210 7220866
contact@philodassiki.org 
http://www.philodassiki.org/

Kaisariani Esthetic Forest office, site supervisor Nikos Pangas 
210 7231769 
e-mail: aestheticforest@philodassiki.org

Volunteer Fire Protection of Kaisariani (EDDK)
Contact Thanasis Exarchopoulos, 
 210 7244042, 6932906420. 
This admirable group trains volunteers to staff the Park entrance and fire watchtowers from May till September, trying to keep Hymettus from going up in flames again.