Altar of Worship – Tombs
According to Pausanias, there are two (2) altars of worship of Parnithios Zeus.
- Bronze statue of Parnithios Zeus and altar of the Signal Zeus. Many assumptions have been made about the statue of Zeus, because no traces of him were found. The altar of Signal Zeus is believed to have been in the “Arma”, that is, at the top that rises to the east of the fortress of the Tribe and to the north of the monastery of Panagia ton Kleiston (“then by Armas lightning” wrote Strabo), where many fragments of tiles.
- Second (2nd) altar of Zeus that the Athenians worshiped, sometimes as a rain (because it regulated the rains) and sometimes as a wind (because it removed evil). Until the existence of this altar there were no indications until a few years ago. However, in an article by Miltiadis Paraskevaidis that was published in the newspaper “I erraini” of 7/8/1960, it is mentioned that in the excavations made by the then curator of antiquities Efth. Mastrokostas on the highest peak of Parnitha, was found, a few meters lower and south, a layer of ash 2.20 m high that came from an altar, which was in a small cult cave and which contained 3000 iron knives, various apocalyptic lecithins. »Spherical fossils, vessels of various types and various bones of sacrificed animals.
Many sources state many sites where tombs were found. The most important are the following:
- Untouched vaulted tomb of the Mycenaean years in the place Lykotrypa near Acharnes. This is the tomb of an important person in the area, perhaps a local lord. It dates back to the Late Helladic III A2 – III B era, ie to the 14th – 13th century BC. It is underground, built in the isodomic and exponential way of construction. It consists of the road, ie the corridor that led to the tomb, the mouth and the chamber. Its underground road is about 27 m long and is built isodomically. Its width is 3 m. Relatively small depending on its large length. The diameter of the dome is 8.35 m and the height is 8.74 m, quite large in relation to its diameter. The walls of the street and the dome are built with small, slow (raw) stones, which converge towards the top creating the image of a large hive. The walls of the dome are held by the key, a slab placed like a wedge on top of it. Externally the dome was covered with soil to form a kind of mound. The entrance opening is almost half the width of the road, but its depth is relatively large, around 3.35 m. The total height of the entrance opening reaches 8.26 m.
- Eleven (11) steps from the hill of Paleokastro of Dhekelia to Petraki hill, Hunter unearthed a burial mound.
- In Dhekelia at the place “Megali Vrysi” there are traces of an ancient settlement. A mound with an isodomic wall containing four sarcophagi was found. From here comes a family inscription.
- Ten (10) minutes north of the church Zoodochos Pigi the hill is dotted with shells and pieces of tiles from tombs. Among the shells there are also Mycenaean. So the place was used as a cemetery from prehistoric times.
- Tomb of Agios Nikolaos – Agia Sotira: In 1987, the artificial hill that dominated the area was investigated. The excavation revealed, in the center of the mound and at a depth of 4.05 m from its top, a marble sarcophagus that was found disturbed by the archaeologists. The box was made of four (4) vertical plates and a one-piece bottom. Her cover was flat. Internally the sarcophagus was worked with a needle. It had dimensions of 2×1.17×1.14 m. Inside were found a few shells of thin vessels of late classical times, pieces of an iron rod, as well as three pieces of a small copper spatula. To the southwest of the sarcophagus was found at a higher level inside the tomb (at a depth of 2.95 m. From the top) another marble box-shaped sarcophagus. Shells were found just above the tomb and all belonged to the same undecorated vase, perhaps a large amphora or pitcher from Roman times. To the northwest of the first sarcophagus was found a rectangular shallow pit containing a few pieces of pottery from classical times. A large undecorated amphora was found on the southwest side of the mound, most likely an inlay. In the southeast corner of the tomb was placed another acid-bottomed amphora from Roman times, which had also been used for burial. In the northern part of the mound, a small chamber had been opened in the ground, 1 m in diameter and 1.50 m high, which according to information from the cultivators of the area had served as a refuge during the years of World War II. But it may have been a small Mycenaean chamber tomb. The mound seems to have been created to cover the two (2) marble sarcophagi.
- In the municipality of Oi or Oi, which was the southernmost ancient municipality of Parnitha and which belonged to the Oeneid tribe, the archaeologist A. Skias discovered a building consisting of two small rooms, carved into the natural rock. The building was called Pelekiton by the locals or in the Arvanitika Gur-i kelepism. Skias believed that it was a temple-shaped tomb or proto. The easternmost room was about 4 m long and had a large rectangular niche on its eastern wall, perhaps for the placement of a votive relief. In the middle of the westernmost smaller room there was a cylindrical altar on the rock or the base of a column 0.60 m in diameter. Most likely it is a sanctuary and not a tomb. The sanctuary needs to be excavated more completely as well as the area around it, to its south and west, which is full of shells and foundations of houses or other public buildings. The location of this ancient municipality from recent excavations is placed with certainty in the southwest of Kalistiri near the stream of Mavri Hera in the place with the name Spilies.
- A cemetery of classical times was excavated in the ravine near the source of the Tribe. To the northeast of the spring were found two tombs of the second (2nd) half of the 4th century BC. which were built of chipped stones. Next to them was a large wall – a burial enclosure – built with polygonal masonry, which was maintained at a length of 1.20 m and a height of 1 m. In another tomb, just a few steps away, an ossified copper case was found.
