The Lavreotiki UNESCO Global Geopark is a hidden treasure and is made up of Lavrion town, located approximately 60km from the capital city of Greece, Athens. The geopark comprises of a region with richness of geological, geomorphological and cultural sites. Today, the region is home to 25,102 people and has been intensely inhabited since antiquity due to its underground geological wealth. The geopark is globally known for its mixed sulfide ore deposits, silver extraction, as well as for the abundance and variety of mineralogical specimens, many of which represent type-localities. This exquisite geodiversity correlates with the geopark’s outstanding beauty and value of biodiversity.

Celebrating Earth heritage

Lavreotiki UNESCO Global Geopark is located in an incomparable area, combining exemplary mineralogical, geological, mining and archaeological characteristics. The Lavrion deposit comprises of five different styles of deposits related to each other, a feature that has not been in another ore deposit elsewhere yet. Its minerals contain the highest number of different elements (48) of any known mining district and thus more diverse than anywhere else in the world.

Apart from being famous for its silver, the district contains more different minerals than any other location on Earth. The effects of surface weathering and oxidation at Lavrion, together with the frequent rises and falls in sea level resulting from oscillating climate change over the last million years; have created an unmatched diversity of secondary minerals. As a result, the Lavrion mining district is unique in its mineralogical features. Currently, out of the global known mineral species, nearly 12% are present in Lavreotiki UNESCO Global Geopark, making it a natural mineralogical museum.

Sustaining local communities

“The Holy Monastery of St. Paul the Apostle” is one of the most significant monasteries in the Lavreotiki Geopark on the outskirts of the settlement “Upper Plaka”, in Palaiokamariza. The main church of the monastery is dedicated to the Holy Apostle Paul; it is in Byzantine, cruciform style with a dome. The monastery is a unique site of intangible heritage that promotes “Orthodox Monasticism” and “fresco”, a traditional technique using natural colors ground from rocks. In addition, the Environmental Educational Center of Lavrion implements a rich conservation and sustainable development educational program. One of its activities, aiming at promoting and raising awareness among young people (5 -15 years old) for a healthy lifestyle and biodiversity protection, concerns the sea and the coastal ecosystems. The program promotes acquaintance with the highly valuable underwater Posidonia oceanica beds, and discusses the appropriate measures for their protection and preservation.