Lávrio, in ancient Greek, means wealth. That was the name the ancient Athenians gave to the city, to signify how rich the mines in Lávrio were.
From the 6th up until the 4th century BC, the Athenians used Lávrio as a mine – city for the extraction of silver. After the 4th century BC., the mines closed when the Athenians got defeated by the Spartans during the Peloponnesian War (431 – 404 BC.) and did not open up until 1864 AD.! The mines were rich in silver, lead and iron and were mined continuously up until 1978, when they closed because there was no more to be mined.
In 1978, it was estimated that the amount of ore dug from the mines of Lávrio, in total, was 7% of all the ore dug in the world – the mines were that rich! In Lávrio, there were more than 700 mines and 200 areas where the ore is processed. Within these mines, wells that reach 110m deep and tunnels up to 4 km length have been found.
Also, excavations revealed an ancient theatre in the city, found in a very good condition, dated from the 4th century BC. This theatre is known due to its shape – it is the only theatre which features a rectangle shaped area for the music band and a quite small circle as its centre.
In the city, you can visit the exceptional museum of ore and minerals. In addition, there is a 3 hour walk which starts at the church of Agía Triáda, goes around the hills surrounding the town by passing the ancient mines, the ancient ore processing site and other sights.
