Fyli Attractions
Although it is only a few kilometers from Athens, Fylí lies in the heart of the countryside of Attica, with an old monastery and one of the ancient Attic frontier fortresses.
Leaving Athens by way of Liosía Street (Liosion), which runs northwest from Lárisa Station, we come to Áno Liosía (13km/8mi), the village of Fylí (18km/11mi: bus from Athens to this point) and the lonely monastery of Panayía ton Klistón. Higher up the valley is an ancient grotto sacred to the shepherd god Pan, the setting of Menander's comedy "Dyskolos". A few kilometers farther on the walls of the ancient fortress of Phyle can be seen on the left.
After the Peloponnesian War Athens built a ring of frontier fortresses designed to protect Attica against attack from the Megarid and Boeotia to the west. Beginning with the fortified town of Eleusis on the coast, this defensive system continued with the fort of Anakton and the town of Oinoe on Mt Kithairon (northwest of Eleusis) and then east via Phyle, Dekeleia and Aphidna to the coastal stronghold of Rhamnous.
In response to the construction of Anakton the city of Megara built a counter-fortification at Aigosthena, the most northerly point in its territory.
Leaving Athens by way of Liosía Street (Liosion), which runs northwest from Lárisa Station, we come to Áno Liosía (13km/8mi), the village of Fylí (18km/11mi: bus from Athens to this point) and the lonely monastery of Panayía ton Klistón. Higher up the valley is an ancient grotto sacred to the shepherd god Pan, the setting of Menander's comedy "Dyskolos". A few kilometers farther on the walls of the ancient fortress of Phyle can be seen on the left.
After the Peloponnesian War Athens built a ring of frontier fortresses designed to protect Attica against attack from the Megarid and Boeotia to the west. Beginning with the fortified town of Eleusis on the coast, this defensive system continued with the fort of Anakton and the town of Oinoe on Mt Kithairon (northwest of Eleusis) and then east via Phyle, Dekeleia and Aphidna to the coastal stronghold of Rhamnous.
In response to the construction of Anakton the city of Megara built a counter-fortification at Aigosthena, the most northerly point in its territory.
Akharnai, Greece
(Near Fyli)
On the way from Fylí to Athens a detour can be made from Áno Liosía to the village of Akhárnai, the setting of Aristophanes' "Acharnians" (3km/2mi along the road to Mt Párnis, to the left). The site was occupied from Mycenaean times, and in the classical period was a place of some consequence. 3km/2mi before the village, on a hill to the left of the road, near a Mycenaean tholos tomb, are remains of later fortifications.
Mother of God of the Gorges Monastery
Panayía ton Klistón: The name of the monastery (Mother of God of the Gorges) refers to its situation on the rock face above the defile of the river Goúlas, on the slopes of Mt Párnis. The monastery is believed to have been founded in the 14th century, but both the church and the monks' quarters were later rebuilt and enlarged.
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