Hundreds of WWII German Bombs Unearthed at Athens’s Hellinikon

A total of 314 WWII German bombs have been discovered during work on a massive urban development project at the former airport complex of Hellinikon south of Athens, according to local authorities.

In a press conference on Thursday, Elliniko-Argyroupoli Mayor Giannis Konstantatos said that the cache of German-made ordnance was found buried at a depth of two meters beneath a former social club, nursery schools and sports facilities constructed for the 2004 Athens Olympics situated at the site.

“Thankfully, no explosions or accidents occurred. It’s puzzling how an entire airport and numerous municipal and civil aviation facilities operated in such a minefield,” he said.

The disposal of the bombs was undertaken by the Hellenic Army’s Land Mine Clearance Squad (TENX).

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Hellinikon Airport used by the German occupying forces

The old Athens airport at Hellinikon was founded in 1938. It wasn’t originally called Hellinikon International Airport, but Kalamaki Airfield, which was used by the German occupying forces for missions in Greece.

Since Athens was occupied early in the war (April 1941), Hellinikon was used for transporting troops or supplies to other parts of Greece or the Balkans. It also functioned as a repair and storage facility for non-operational aircraft.

The German occupation of Athens, which lasted from April 1941 to October 1944, was a dark and tumultuous period in the city’s history. The Greeks suffered greatly under the harsh rule of the Nazi occupiers, who imposed severe restrictions on their lives, looted their resources, and perpetrated numerous atrocities.

The Hellinikon project

The bombs were discovered during work for the Hellinikon project, a massive urban development project which is aiming to be one of the biggest urban parks in Europe.

The project incorporates the park itself, along with luxury residences, hotels, a casino, a marina, shops, offices, and even Greece’s tallest buildings reaching up to 200 meters in height.

The park itself is planned to encompass a whopping 263 hectares, with an additional 100+ hectares dedicated to housing and office facilities. This would make it larger than London’s Hyde Park, currently the biggest in Europe at 250 hectares.

In the meantime, a section called the Hellinikon Experience Park has been open to the public since 2016. This 75,000 square meter section offers a green space for relaxation and recreation.

LAMDA Development says that The Hellinikon is expected to substantially contribute to the repositioning of Athens as one of the major world-class tourism destinations as it will provide a significant number of new accommodation landmarks, as well as thematic tourism venues, expected to attract at least 1 million new tourists while significantly reducing seasonality and at the same time increasing the average stay and spending of tourists in Athens.

The ongoing project is expected to contribute to the country’s GDP by 2.4% until the development’s completion date, contributing also a total of over €14 bln in tax revenues to the Greek State over the same timeframe.