The Largest Hidden Gold Treasure Right Now in Greece

Mainalo wood successful Peloponnese Greece wherever Lykos allegedly hid his treasure. Credit: wikimedia commons / Thodoris Κ. Mavraganis CC BY 4.0

Many legendary large treasures successful Greece are hidden from the world.

The treasure of Lykos is 1 of them, involving the 2 Lykos bandits and the destiny of the golden treasure they acquired.

The fable of the golden treasure of Lykos

The astir celebrated gold treasure, linked to the bandit Lykos, is successful Greece’s Peloponnese peninsula and dates backmost to the Turkish occupation. Over the years, galore aureate artifacts person been uncovered successful the portion which is afloat of Mycenaean ruins and Classical Greek temples.

According to an aged section property publication, successful the 19th century, the robber Lykos hid immense sums of aureate coins successful the underground galleries of Mainalos Mountain, portion determination is simply a rumor that Captain Perdikas (of ELAS – the Hellenic Liberation Army, which fought the Axis occupying forces) hid golden coins there, arsenic well.

Treasure Hunt. Credits: Andrew Burrows, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, via Flickr

The Lygos bandits: Robbery and reputation

Many legends blend with existent stories erstwhile referring to the Lygos bandits, who captured and robbed the affluent oregon usurers.

Giorgos Lygos and Anastasis Lygos, uncle and nephew, were among the astir infamous robbers of the 19th century, operating successful the Peloponnese and Central Greece.

They cautiously gathered accusation connected the fiscal lasting of their imaginable victims and demanded astir one-fifth of their property. “We’ll instrumentality it, but we’ll fto you unrecorded arsenic well.” aged antheral Lygos utilized to say.

If they received an unusually precocious ransom owed to an informant’s grudge, Lygos would sometimes instrumentality a information of it.

Their generosity, if it tin genuinely beryllium called that, earned them the respect and perchance adjacent the affection of the villagers. Rumors suggested that adjacent the section gendarmerie sympathized with them. Some of those captured by the robbers were not harmed, but were besides financially supported by them. Their motivations however, whitethorn not person been purely philanthropic.

The cave of Goura and the hunt for treasure

One of the astir renowned sites linked to Lygos’ treasure is successful Goura, Corinth, Greece. Above the ruins of Saint Spyridon, adjacent Kapsimalis’ inn, lies a cave where, successful 1870, Giorgis Lygos held Sotirios Sotiropoulos—a erstwhile Finance Minister and aboriginal Prime Minister—during his last 36 days successful captivity.

Sotiropoulos was kidnapped, with the practice of the bandit Mitsos Lafazanis, connected July 28, 1866, from his property successful Filiatra.

People inactive sought aft the treasure successful Goura. Years ago, an aged section main shepherd was asked, “Where is the treasure of Goura, aged man”? He replied, “I cognize wherever it is, but I won’t say. The treasure should ne'er travel out.”

Though Giorgis Lygos, “the grandfather,” has passed, the golden of Goura remains hidden. About 40–45 years agone successful the tiny colony of Psari, Peloponnese, a radical of villagers (five oregon six people) formed a radical to find the treasure. While it’s unclear precisely wherever they searched, it is definite they explored the surrounding areas. They besides explored ravines and Goura for respective years.

Modern expeditions successful hunt of Lygos’ gold

The fable lives on, with the Mainalos portion being a premier people for treasure hunters. In Western Mainalos, adjacent the way from Zygovisti to Elati, lies the cave of Lygos adjacent the Bourboulistra spring. The remains of walls wrong the cave suggest it was erstwhile utilized arsenic a hiding place.

Further south, adjacent the borderline with Vlacherna, is simply a determination called Lygos. There was a bloody clash betwixt the gendarmerie and his pack there.

Logic suggests—and fable confirms—that Lygos indispensable person hidden priceless sums of wealth (in gold, nary less) successful the underground passages of Mainalos.

In the summertime of 2000, 2 Greek American businessmen, primitively from Arcadia and Laconia, conducted a hunt successful the caves and sinkholes of Mainalos. They were looking for the treasure of Lygos and Heliotis, the robbers. However, they recovered perfectly nothing.

The enigma of Lygos’ golden persists, tempting adventurers and enthusiasts alike to proceed the quest.