Our neighbourhood hill
Strefi Hill
Lycabettus gets the postcards, but locals climb Strefi. It's a small, wooded hill of pines, cypresses and rock right in the middle of the city, with a view that takes in the Acropolis, Lycabettus and the whole basin of Athens out to the sea.
What it's like today
Paths and stone steps wind up through the trees from every side of the hill. Near the top you'll find rocky outcrops where people gather at sunset, an open-air amphitheatre used for concerts and neighbourhood events, a basketball court and a small café with tables under the pines.
Go early in the morning for a quiet walk with only dog-walkers and runners for company, or at golden hour, when the Acropolis turns pink and Lycabettus lights up across the rooftops. It's a two-minute walk from our front door.
A short history
- AntiquityStrefi is one of the low limestone hills of the ridge that runs through Athens and rises to Lycabettus and Tourkovounia. In antiquity this was open countryside outside the city walls.
- 19th centuryAfter Athens became the capital of the new Greek state in 1834, the city grew quickly. The hill came to be owned by the Strefis family, who gave it its name. Its rock was quarried for building stone for the expanding city.
- 20th centuryNeighbourhoods such as Neapoli and Exarchia filled in around it while the hill itself stayed undeveloped. It later passed into public hands, was planted with pines and cypresses and was laid out with paths, steps and lookouts as a park.
- TodayStrefi is one of central Athens' most loved green spaces. Residents have long campaigned to protect and care for it, and it remains a neighbourhood park rather than a tourist sight.
