Abandoned mansion North of Athens (Λόφος Λεβίδη)

(First of all I gotta admit I feel awkward posting an Urbex while a couple of countries away of mine the war turns to an Urbex an entire one in the most tragic way possible. I have already posted about the Russian invasion, in case you're curious on my positions you can check my previous posts.)

This time I ride my bike up to a hill North of Athens where one of the most luxurious mansions used to be. Actually still is but in such terrible condition that it's debatable whether it still "is". Super cold and not enough time in my hands for an impressive and large estate like this but you'll get a good idea of this place:

Let's start with a bit of history first:

1935, Mr Levidis (hence this hill is named after him) a retired Lieutenant Colonel who was Lord Chamberlain for the Greek King, also Speaker of the House of the Greek parliament for a short while, had resided at this freshly built mansion on this hill which was given to him by King Pavlos under unclear conditions. It was a superb creation from the hands of a very famous architect who had the idea to connect the whole complex with a pre existing Ottoman tower by an arch:

Here's where those two meet:

And here's the same tower overlooking my iron horse:

Here's a video of me riding up that abandoned hill plus a look at the little park that surrounds it:

Pretty odd parenthesis going up there leaving all the heavy traffic behind which despite the efforts of the tall trees and the birds singing you can still hear all the urban noise in the background.

Let's focus on the green side of things:

I haven't even started to explore it yet and I'm already amazed imagining how awesome this spot on the top of this hill would be back in the day without this noise but even with it today it's still impressive.

Let's go back in history again to make a necessary though far from pleasant stop:

1944, during the German occupation an ambush against a German car with high officers took place close to that hill. Most were killed and the Germans didn't hesitate to retaliate. Unfortunately this took place in the most disgusting way possible. Around 200 civilians of the area where arrested and then imprisoned in that villa which was under German occupation to be tortured beyond belief (seriously it's hard to type here what they did to them). Their bodies (parts of them actually) where left exposed to the top of the hill for 2 days and then were buried all together there. Nazis wanted to burn the local suburb of Pallini as well but a sane German officer convinced them that this slaughter was already enough.

Levidis died in 1963 and this was the beginning of serious financial issues for his family so his wife started renting this wonderful place for movies and some of the most famous Greek ones where filmed there till the early 80s capturing the unparalleled grace of the whole complex. 1990 Levidis's wife dies and her son sells it immediately next year but not uneventfully: The day before the contract was signed under unidentified reasons the mansion is burned down. As if the story of this real estate wasn't tragic already...

Let's come back to the present and start stepping in to what's left from it:

It's obvious from the outside that this once vast luxurious construction is now a street art (?) playground:

I spot this travel luggage though so I guess it also hosted immigrants during the huge wave we had years ago:

Stepping in I am not surprised the graffiti goes on an on:

I am kinda surprised by the number of rooms though. 70!!! Hence the huge amount of fireplaces. Here's the first I meet:

The roof's relics suggested that I shouldn't be playing Russian roulette staying under them for too long:

The graffiti goes on of course:

As you can see the high number of arches allows no mistake about the age of that thing. The more I step in the heart of it the more I am impressed by it and how nature has decorated it:

Not that today's visitors haven't left their marks on it too - see how both made the pool look like now:

And see how it used to look like during its glorious days (from the other side):

SOURCE

Astonishing mansion wasn't it? Today not as much:

Here's one more fireplace:

The marble you see on the stairs came from the nearby mountain of Penteli which is top quality. If you doubt think of Acropolis - it's the same.

Lots to comment about this room, the graffiti, the double arch, the marble fireplace on the right, the missing roof:

One of its windows offers this odd view:

Here's its fireplace:

Did you miss some street art? There you go:

They even had a garage where they could fix their cars - this would be my playground back in the day:

Speaks for itself:

I climb up on one of the terraces and try to imagine how the view of Athens from there would be even better back in the day with so much less concrete jungle:

I visit some smaller compartments on the 1st floor:

The missing roofs from above offer one more viewing angle to the abandonment:

Not that the roofs still standing can hide the uggliness:

Absurdity:

More arches outdoors:

And indoors:

This arch is broken (by hand I guess) allowing more view to the mess inside:

I try to drive to the other side of the complex but a tree has a different opinion:

Abandonment in green:

On my right hand at the same spot I find the best piece of art:

I feel lucky since my time was over right when I set sight on it.

Hope you enjoyed it, see you on the next one!