In Penteli, Athens’ second highest mountain, Davelis Cave was a place of worship of Pan and the nymphs. During the middle ages Christian hermits constructed a small Byzantine church at the cave entrance to worship Saint Nicholas and Saint Spyridon.

Mt Penteli is located around 15 km northeast of Athens and is the same mountain that the ancient Athenians quarried marble from in order to build the Parthenon and Acropolis. In fact almost the entire mountain is made from marble, it is within these mountains you can find Davelis Cave.

The cave's name comes from the local legend that an infamous 19th century brigand called Davelis (real name Christos Natsios) used the cave as a hideout. 

The Davelis cave is also associated with bizarre paranormal phenomena including strong electromagnetic fluctuations, ghostly apparitions, the Hollow Earth hypothesis, Vril, conspiracy theories, secret subterranean bases, time gates, UFOs and alien creatures are just some of the myths surrounding the Cave.

Inside the cave leads to an underground tunnel system. Some of the tunnels are believed to extend great distances and include exits as far away as Attika. One of the tunnels is reported to lead into a large underground hall complete with a small lake and a very ancient temple dedicated to the greek god Pan. 

UFO Research

In the late 70s George Balanos, a well known UFO researcher organized a team to investigate the strange stories about Mt. Penteli and the Cave. The team started by collecting all the folklore stories about the area and soon realized that there were hundreds of reports from local people about "strange lights" in the sky, small humanoids, strange noises, ghosts, etc. When they made measurements in the Davelis cave area, they found abnormalities in the magnetic field, a strong smell of ozone at the entrance to the cave, and camera equipment malfunctions within the cave system.

They continued their research for many years until 1977 when the Air Force became interested in the area. They closed, or attempted to close, the Davelis Caves and began extending the tunnel system deeper into the Penteli mountains. The official explanation was, and still is, that the whole tunnel system was part of a NATO project. Excavation continued until 1983 when work on the tunnels suddenly ceased. The Air Force abandoned the caves leaving the system deserted.