The lion of Kea Island - a guardian with a mysterious smile (10 photos + 1 video)
This smiling stone cat, with a smile as mysterious as the Mona Lisa and the Cheshire Cat, represents the mythical lion that locals believe once nearly destroyed the island of Kea. 
Carved from a single slab of stone, this lion amazes visitors with both its antiquity and its strange, wise smile. The fundamental stone Lion of Kea, reclining on a hilltop, is notable not only for its relatively good condition, but also for its strange sunny mood. 
Kea Island
The lion was carved from natural rock around 600 BC, according to some, by the same architect who created the Acropolis. Also known as the Lion of Ioulos, this beast is loved by tourists and locals alike, who have given it the name Leutas. It is believed that the existence of this creature, as well as its strange smile, are connected to local mythology. 
According to legend, the island of Kea was once home to water nymphs whose beauty made the gods envious. Since in Ancient Greece this almost always meant disaster, the envious sent a lion to destroy the island. The plan failed: the island survived, and a temple was built in memory of the cruelty of the gods. The statue of the lion still preserves the memory of that legendary skirmish between the nymphs and the gods. 
No one knows for sure whether the smile on the lion's face is intentional or just the result of the playful mood of the weather. But in any case, the predatory cat continues to be a favorite attraction of the island, which it once allegedly almost destroyed. 
