Kithairon Mountain Refuge “V.Tsakos”

In the location Petalo of Kithairon, at an altitude of 1.090m, 9.5 km from Vilia, is built the refuge of the Greek Mountaineering Association (G.M.Α.) of Elefsina, with 25 beds. The refuge is named "V. Tsakos", in honor of the President Vangelis Tsakos who died on 14/12/1978. In 1973, the Ministry of Agriculture granted to the G.M.A. of Elefsina an area of 4 acres in the area for the purpose of building the refuge. Sufficient money and materials were collected, both from private individuals and companies and from the state, after the actions of the committee set up, to start building the shelter. Finally, the shelter was founded in 1975 and finished in 1982, when it was inaugurated. In the following years, there was a continuous improvement of the refuge's premises, electrification and heating (1990), as well as an initial configuration of the surroundings. Subsequently, several projects were carried out to reconstruct parts of the refuge and to complete the surrounding area with the construction of a tank/small theatre, marking of paths to and from the refuge, etc. Just below the top of Kithairon, at an altitude of 1,400m, there is a small refuge of the Greek Mountaineering Association (G.M.A.) of Elefsina, with 9 beds. In 1990, the Air Force General Staff granted the G.M.A. of Elefsina, a small building under the top of Kithairon with the intention of using it as a refuge. This was followed by the reconstruction of the building and landscaping, the renovation and completion of the refuge areas, the construction of a water tank, the final landscaping of the external areas and the marking of the paths to and from the refuge. Refuges operate under the responsibility of Greek Mountaineering Association of Elefsina.