The Ottoman Turks called the hills Pınar Dağ ("Spring Mount").

They are located in the ancient country of Sintice, between the Strymon and the Xiropotamos rivers and are covered in the oriental plane and chestnut trees.

Towns found in the Pangaion hills include Nikisiani and Palaiochori which are agricultural in nature and grow mainly grain and tobacco.

It was the rich gold and silver available in the region that made the Athenians send out a colony in 465 to an area known as the Nine Roads (Ennéa Hodoí).

[2] It was famous for silver and gold mines, as well as for shipyard wood and the oracle of Dionysus.