1.
Greece
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Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, historically also known as Hellas, is a country in southeastern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2015. Athens is the capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki. Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of nine regions, Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands, Thrace, Crete. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km in length, featuring a vast number of islands, eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming a part of the Roman Empire and its successor. The Greek Orthodox Church also shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World, falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greeces rich historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe, Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the member to join the European Communities and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. Greeces unique cultural heritage, large industry, prominent shipping sector. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor, the names for the nation of Greece and the Greek people differ from the names used in other languages, locations and cultures. The earliest evidence of the presence of human ancestors in the southern Balkans, dated to 270,000 BC, is to be found in the Petralona cave, all three stages of the stone age are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave. Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC, are the oldest in Europe by several centuries and these civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans in Linear B, an early form of Greek. The Mycenaeans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but collapsed violently around 1200 BC and this ushered in a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, from which written records are absent. The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature, are believed to have been composed by Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. With the end of the Dark Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and city-states across the Greek peninsula, in 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted the worlds first democratic system of government in Athens
2.
New Democracy (Greece)
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The New Democracy, also referred to as ND by its initials, is a liberal-conservative political party in Greece. In modern Greek politics, New Democracy has been the main political party. The party was founded in 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis and in the year it formed the first cabinet of the Third Hellenic Republic. New Democracy is a member of the European Peoples Party, the Centrist Democrat International, New Democracy was founded on 4 October 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis, in the beginning of the metapolitefsi era following the fall of the Greek military junta. He intended New Democracy to be a modern and progressive political party than the right-wing parties that ruled Greece before the 1967 Greek coup détat. The next major issue for the New Democracy cabinet was the creation of the Constitution of Greece, in the 1977 election, New Democracy won again a large parliamentary majority of 171 seats, albeit with a reduced percentage of popular vote. Under Karamanlis, Greece redefined its relations with NATO and tried to resolve the Cyprus dispute following the Turkish invasion of the island and it was the first conference of any Greek political party whose delegates were elected by the members. Meanwhile, Karamanlis relinquished the premiership in 1980 and was elected as President of Greece by the parliament, georgios Rallis was elected as the new leader of New Democracy and succeeded Karamanlis in premiership. 87% share of the vote and 115 seats. In the same day, on 18 October 1981, New Democracy was also defeated in the first Greek election to the European Parliament, in the subsequent elections of November 1989, New Democracy took one more comfortable win, increasing its share to 46. Eventually, in the 1990 election Mitsotakis New Democracy defeated once again Papandreous PASOK with a lead of 8. 28%, in foreign policy, the priorities were the restoration of confidence among Greeces economic and political partners, NATO and the United States. In the 1993 elections, New Democracy suffered a defeat with 39. 30% of the vote, something that led to Mitsotakis resignation. In the early 1996 legislative election, New Democracy was defeated again by Costas Simitis PASOK registering 38. 12%, however, in the spring of 1997 a new conference took place, in order to elect a new president among others. Kostas Karamanlis, nephew of the founder, was elected the sixth president of New Democracy. The regions that consistently support New Democracy include the Peloponnese, Central Macedonia, on the other hand, the party is weak in Crete, the Aegean Islands, Attica and West Greece. On 16 September 2007, Kostas Karamanlis won re-election with a majority in Parliament. You have spoken loud and clear and chosen the course the country will take in the few years. On 2 September 2009 Karamanlis announced his intention to call an election, the parliament was dissolved on 9 September, and the 2009 legislative election was held on 4 October. New Democracys share of the vote dropped to 33. 47% and they won only 91 of 300 seats
3.
Vehicle registration plates of Greece
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Greek vehicle registration plates are composed of three letters and four digits per plate. The letters represent the district that issues the plates while the numbers begin from 1000 to 9999, similar plates with digits beginning from 1 to 999 are issued for motorcycles which exceed 50 cc. With the exception of Athens and Thessaloniki, all districts are represented by the first 2 letters, the final letter in the sequence changes in Greek alphabetical order after 9,000 issued plates. For example, Patras plates are ΑΧΑ-1000, where ΑΧ represents the Achaia prefecture of which Patras is the capital, when ΑΧΑ-9999 is reached the plates turn to ΑΧΒ-1000 and this continues until ΑΧΧ is finished. Only the letters from the intersection between the Latin and Greek alphabets by glyph appearance are used, namely Α, Β, Ε, Ζ, Η, Ι, Κ, Μ, Ν, Ο, Ρ, Τ, Υ, Χ. This is because Greece is a party to the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. The rule applies in a way in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Combinations used for residents are L-NNNN and are limited. Until 2003, taxis used L-NNNN, the plate was aligned with the prefecture, when number plates were introduced to Greece, they were numbered and in the late 1950s the system was L-NNN and LL-NNN. The letters were Greek letters and Latin letters, respectively, in 1956, the system was NNNNNN. In 1972, they became lettered and the system was LL-NNNN while trucks used L-NNNN, in 1983, the system was LLL-NNNN and the first two letters are prefecture letters. In 2004, the euroband was added, the first 2 of 3 letters of a licence plate usually represent the prefecture where the car was registered. Π. — Disabled in war ΔΟΚ — Test plates ΔΣ — Corps Diplomatique or foreign delegation Ε. Α. or ΕΛ. ΑΣ. — Hellenic Police ΛΣ — Coast Guard ΞΑ — Foreign missions ΕΣ — Hellenic Army ΠΑ — Hellenic Air Force ΠΝ — Hellenic Navy ΠΣ — Fire Guard ΠΚ — President of the Government, i. e
4.
Parnitha
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Mount Parnitha is a densely forested mountain range north of Athens, the highest on the peninsula of Attica, with an elevation of 1,413 m, and a summit known as Karavola. Much of the mountain is designated a park, and is a protected habitat for wildfowl. The summit is located 18 km N of Acharnae and about 30 km N of Athens, other peaks include Mavrovouni, Ornio, Area, Avgo or Avgho, and Xerovouni. It also has two shelters Mpafi and Flampouri. The name of the dates back to ancient times, when it was under the ancient demes of Acharnae. Towns surrounding the mountain include Aspropyrgos, Fyli, Acharnes, Varymbombi, Thrakomakedones, Dekeleia, Avlona, the highway GR-1 surrounds the northern and eastern part of the mountain along with the Cephissus river, while the Attiki Odos motorway runs to its south. The view during clear days can extend to northern Boeotia and the Peloponnese, the mountain was also affected by several major blizzards, including two in 2005 and 2006, stranding cars and closing roads, as well as the cable car. Forests of Aleppo Pine cover all slopes beneath 1,000 m altitude, above 1,000 m it is covered principally in Greek Fir, grasses and shrubbery, and beneath 300 m mainly farmlands and suburban housing to the east. About 1,000 species of plants can be found on the mountain, including crocus and tulips, and the mountain provides a native habitat to its red deer. After the traumatic fire in 2007, they are more scarce. Several large mines lie to the northwest, and the ore from them was shipped to a factory in industrial areas. Parnitha has many places with archaeological interest, most usual ancient buildings in Parnitha are the fortresses. In antiquity, many fortresses had been built on the mountain, for the Athenian defense opposite the Boeotians, today some fortresses kept in good condition such as the Phyle fortress, built at a height of 687 meters in the west of Parnitha. Other notable fortresses are the Panakton, in the area of Dervenochoria, notable monument of later periods is the Monastery of Kleiston. It is a Byzantine monastery dated from 13th century and it is mentioned by Pope Innocent IV in 1209 with the name Monastery of Kyras. Southeast of Parnitha, inside a dense forest, Tatoi Palace is located and it was the palace of Greek royal family and it was built in 19th century. The cave of Panas is located on the west slopes of the mountain at a height of 750 meters and it was worship site in antiquity. Near the cave there is the gorge of Gouras and the gorge of Keladonas river. Beautiful site of the mountain is Beletsi Lake and it is located on the east slopes of the mountain, near Afidnes and it is important place for migratory birds
5.
Motorway 6 (Greece)
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Motorway 6 is a privately owned toll motorway in Greece, part of the Attiki Odos system. Connecting Eleusis in the west with the Athens International Airport in the east, the length of the motorway is 48 kilometres. Construction of the began in 1996. Part of the motorway was opened along with the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport to which it connects and it started from the Gerakas interchange and led to the airport. In September 2002, construction of the high-speed Proastiakos railway was begun, the railway was opened in 2004. In early 2003, the A6 was opened from the Kifisias Avenue Interchange to Eleftherios Venizelos Airport, in November 2003, the western part opened from the junction with the A8 to Kifisias Avenue. Toll stations are located at the leading to the Attiki Odos motorway. The fare is the same regardless of the length of journey, drivers can pay either by cash, e-pass or a special account card, for motorbikes and cars the standard toll fares are €1.40 and €2.80 respectively. The exits of the A6 motorway, The official website of Attiki Odos S. A
6.
Athens International Airport
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It is Greeces busiest airport and it serves as the hub and main base of Aegean Airlines as well as other Greek airlines. The airport is currently in Group 2 of Airports Council International and as of 2016, AIA is located between the towns of Markopoulo, Koropi, Spata and Loutsa, about 20 km to the east of central Athens. As to-date, ownership is divided between the Hellenic Republic and Private Sector in a 55%-45% stake following a PPP scheme for the airport company, currently, private investors include the Copelouzos Group and PSP Investments of Canada, following purchase of Hochtiefs shares. The airport was constructed to replace the now-closed Athens International Airport, studies for a new airport had been carried out from as early as the 1970s, with as many as 19 different locations being looked at before an area close to the town of Spata was chosen as suitable. Athens Airport SA, a company, was established in 1978 to proceed with the plans. In 1996, Athens International Airport S. A. was established as a Public–private partnership with a 30-year concession agreement and that same year, the €2.1 billion development finally began with an estimated completion date of February 2001. The airport construction was completed five months before schedule, but was delayed opening a month due to connections to Attiki Odos not being completed. Its major features include two parallel runways being 4 km and 3.8 km long respectively, the airport has received approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency and the Federal Aviation Administration for take-offs and landings of the biggest passenger jet worldwide, the A380. The first ever A380 to visit Eleftherios Venizelos Athens International Airport made a landing on 13 April 2011 for emergency medical reasons. The first scheduled A380 flight took place on 26 October 2012 by Emirates, the Greek government-debt crisis reduced the overall passenger traffic of the airport for six consecutive years. Many long-haul airlines outright terminated service to the airport, while others chose to operate on a basis only. Moreover, these problems were exacerbated by the closure of Olympic Airlines. In 2013, the airport handled just above 12.5 million passengers,3. 2% fewer than in 2012,2014 signaled a strong recovery for the airports passenger traffic and all statistical figures. More than ten new airlines started new flights to and from Athens, Aegean Airlines strengthened its network by 30% while Ryanair established a new base in the Athens Airport and added eight destinations. Characteristically, Singapore and Gulf Air resumed flights while Emirates, Etihad Airways, delta Air Lines and American Airlines retained their seasonal schedules to/from USA with even more frequent connectivity. From 2017 onwards, year-round services to Singapore are going to resume after more than 5 years, flights are going to be opeated by Scoot. In addition, over the period, aircraft traffic exhibited a solid growth of 14% year-over-year. Strong growth was evident throughout 2016, both for domestic and international destinations, annual results reflect a solid performance having an all-time record high been achieved for a second year in a row fueled by double-digit growth, this time passing the twenty million mark
7.
Zografou
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Zografou is a suburb of approximately 71,000 in the eastern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Actual the community reports a population of 150.000 inhabitants and it was named after the Greek politician Ioannis Zografos. To the east of Zografou lies mount Hymettus, the area, being close to the centre of Athens, developed similar urban sprawl characteristics, with high-rise buildings of even 10 stories tall being the norm. The city is home to the Athens university campus and polytechnical school campus and therefore. Zografou includes the areas of Ilissia and Goudi. Zografou is an suburb of Athens, located about 4 km east of Athens city centre. The municipality has an area of 8.517 km2, towards the east the municipality extends to the forested Hymettus mountain. The built-up area of Zografou is continuous with that of Athens, a large campus of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens is situated in Ano Ilisia, the easternmost quarter of Zografou. Ano Ilisia derived its name from the river Ilisos, which starts at St Eleousa, another quarter of Zografou is Goudi, in the northwestern part of the municipality. The main church of Zografou is consecrated to Agios Therapontas, with Zografou having been built on the hills of Hymettus, a common sight around the city are some very steep uphill streets. Zografou is served by bus lines 140,220,221,230,235,250,608,622 and 815, the eastern beltway Motorway 64 passes through the municipality. After the departure of the Ottomans from the area in the 1830s, the area came into the ownership of Ioannis Koniaris, mayor of Athens from 1851–1854, and Leonidas Vournazos. In 1902, Eleni Vournazos, widow of Leonidas, sells 1,250 stremma of the Kouponia/Goudi area to Ioannis Zografos, dividing it into plots, he sold them for installments of 112 drachma per month. The first houses were erected in 1919, within ten years,100 had been built. At this time, the foundations of the Church of St. Theraponta were erected, in 1929, the area, now known as Zografou, was split from the city of Athens and became an independent community. It was elevated to a municipality in 1947, its first president being Sotirios Zografos, in 1935, the area of Kouponia was incorporated into the community. Dimitri Kitsikis Public Foundation Gounaropoulos Museum, dedicated to the works of painter Giorgios Gounaropoulos, in addition, the sport club Ilisiakos, founded in 1927, is based in Ilisia a district that is shared between Athens and Zografou. Dimitri Kitsikis Royal Society of Canada Nikos Kourkoulos actor Marika Kotopouli actress List of municipalities of Attica City of Zografou official website News site for City of Zografou
8.
Eleusis
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Eleusis is a town and municipality in West Attica, Greece. It is situated about 18 kilometres northwest from the centre of Athens and it is located in the Thriasian Plain, at the northernmost end of the Saronic Gulf. North of Eleusis are Mandra and Magoula, while Aspropyrgos is to the northeast, Eleusis is the seat of administration of West Attica regional unit. It is the site of the Eleusinian Mysteries and the birthplace of Aeschylus, today, Eleusis is a major industrial centre, with the largest oil refinery in Greece as well as the home of the Aeschylia Festival, the longest-lived arts event in Attica Region. On 11 November 2016 Eleusis was named the European Capital of Culture for 2021.589 km2, from as early as 600 BC up to the 4th century AD, Eleusis was the site of the Eleusinian Mysteries, or the Mysteries of Demeter and Kore. These Mysteries revolved around a belief that there was a hope for life after death for those who were initiated, such a belief was cultivated from the introduction ceremony in which the hopeful initiates were shown a number of things including the seed of life in a stalk of grain. The central myth of the Mysteries was Demeters quest for her lost daughter who had been abducted by Hades, Demeter raised Demophoon, anointing him with nectar and ambrosia, until Metaneira found out and insulted her. Demeter arose insulted, and casting off her disguise, and, in all her glory, today, the city has become a suburb of Athens, to which it is linked by the Motorway 6 and Greek National Road 8. Eleusis is nowadays a major area, and the place where the majority of crude oil in Greece is imported and refined. The largest refinery is located on the west side of town, there is a military airport a few kilometers east of Eleusis. Eleusis Airfield played a role in the final British evacuation during the 1941 Battle of Greece. Eleusis is home to the football club Panelefsiniakos F. C. the Hellenic National Meteorological Service weather station of Eleusis has an average maximum July temperature of 33. 0°C and has recorded temperatures over 45. 0°C nine times between 1973–2007). The Eleusis phenomenon is not yet completely understood however factors of geomorphology, warm water masses in the summer, according to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Eleusis has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated Csa on climate maps. Eleusis hosts the multi-sport club Panelefsiniakos with successful sections in football and basketball, other historical club of Eleusis is Iraklis Eleusis, founded in 1928
9.
Proastiakos
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The Proastiakos is the collective name for Greeces suburban services, which are run by TrainOSE, the countrys only rail operator, on infrastructure owned by the Hellenic Railways Organisation. In Athens, the Proastiakos offers a connection between Athens International Airport and Kiato, in the Peloponnese. The service also connects the port of Piraeus with Halkida in Evia, through Athens Railway Station, in Thessaloniki, there are two Proastiakos services. The first connects the citys New Railway Station with the city of Larissa, in July 2010 a new commuter rail service was launched in Patras, connecting the city with Rio. Photography and video-taking is permitted across the whole Proastiakos network, however very often the security personnel might create problems to photographers, the term Proastiakos, which translates as suburban, is derived from the ancient Greek word proasteion, pro + asty meaning before the city. However the same name has also been used for some regional rail services. The concept of a regular and frequent suburban and commuter rail services was introduced in Greece in the 1990s and it became possible due to extra capacity becoming available through improvements to the existing lines and the construction of new ones. In the past suburban services ran on very infrequent timetables and were not very popular, the construction of a new rail line between central Athens, its eastern suburbs and the new Athens International Airport was decided in 1992-1993. The first suburban services between Athens and the Airport were inaugurated using Stadler GTW and Siemens Desiro DMU trains, on 27 September 2005, the new standard gauge rail line reached Corinth, terminating at a new station, located at Examilia. This line today is served by Proastiakos suburban services, while initially Proastiakos trains stopped at Nea Peramos, Megara, Kinetta, on 18 July 2006 three new stations were added, Ano Liosia, Aspropyrgos and Magoula. On 4 June 2007 the line was extended from Athens to the port of Piraeus with 3 intermediate stations at Lefka, Rentis and this extension linked the airport with the port of Piraeus. On 9 July 2007, Proastiakos services reached the new station at Kiato, TrainOSE also runs Proastiakos commuter rail services between the cities of Thessaloniki and Larissa, on the modernised and electrified main line. The service initially operated from Thessaloniki to Litochoro in 2007 and was extended to Larissa in 2008, Proastiakos of Athens consists of two routes, one from Piraeus to Chalcis with a branch to Ano Liosia and one route from Kiato to the Airport. Trains run from approximately 5, 00am to midnight daily, there are 44 stations in total. The following table lists the routes and the stations for the Proastiakos network of Athens, in June the electrification works will have been completed along the whole length of the line as far as Piraeus and services are going to be extended to that station. The suburban railway connects with the urban railways of Athens in the following stations, Piraeus. Athens Central, connection with Metro line 2, nerantziotissa, Connection with Metro Line 1. Plakentias, connection with Metro line 3, Pallini, shared station with Metro line 3
10.
Athens
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Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. In modern times, Athens is a cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime. In 2015, Athens was ranked the worlds 29th richest city by purchasing power, Athens is recognised as a global city because of its location and its importance in shipping, finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, culture, education and tourism. It is one of the biggest economic centres in southeastern Europe, with a financial sector. The municipality of Athens had a population of 664,046 within its limits. The urban area of Athens extends beyond its administrative city limits. According to Eurostat in 2011, the Functional urban areas of Athens was the 9th most populous FUA in the European Union, Athens is also the southernmost capital on the European mainland. The city also retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a number of Ottoman monuments. Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery, Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics. In Ancient Greek, the name of the city was Ἀθῆναι a plural, in earlier Greek, such as Homeric Greek, the name had been current in the singular form though, as Ἀθήνη. It was possibly rendered in the later on, like those of Θῆβαι and Μυκῆναι. During the medieval period the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular as Ἀθήνα, an etiological myth explaining how Athens has acquired its name was well known among ancient Athenians and even became the theme of the sculpture on the West pediment of the Parthenon. The goddess of wisdom, Athena, and the god of the seas, Poseidon had many disagreements, in an attempt to compel the people, Poseidon created a salt water spring by striking the ground with his trident, symbolizing naval power. However, when Athena created the tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity. Different etymologies, now rejected, were proposed during the 19th century. Christian Lobeck proposed as the root of the name the word ἄθος or ἄνθος meaning flower, ludwig von Döderlein proposed the stem of the verb θάω, stem θη- to denote Athens as having fertile soil. In classical literature, the city was referred to as the City of the Violet Crown, first documented in Pindars ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι. In medieval texts, variant names include Setines, Satine, and Astines, today the caption η πρωτεύουσα, the capital, has become somewhat common
11.
Chalandri
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Chalandri is a suburb in the northern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. It is a municipality of the Attica region, Chalandri is a suburb in Northern Athens, around 12 kilometres from the centre, its location corresponds with one of the 10 ancient demes of Athens, known as Phlya. The municipality has an area of 10.805 km2, Chalandri was a small village until the rapid expansion of Athens during the 1960s and 1970s. Its built-up area is now continuous with those of the neighbouring suburbs Filothei, Marousi, Vrilissia, Agia Paraskevi, Cholargos, nevertheless, it has still a high ratio of open green areas per citizen in the Athens agglomeration. Several embassies are based in Chalandri and it is one of the largest suburbs in terms of population, with more than 70,000 residents. It holds an independent municipality status since 1944, Chalandri is served by the Chalandri metro station. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Chalandri has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, Agia Varvara Ano Chalandri Doukissis Plakentias Kato Chalandri Patima Metamorfosi Polydroso Toufa Sidera Synoikismos American Community Schools is located in Chalandri. Municipal Infirmary of Chalandri Gialvalis Clinic is located at Chalandri and specializes in thyroid gland, sport clubs of Chalandri with presence in Greek national divisions are AE Chalandriou, GS Chalandriou and Nireas Chalandriou. List of municipalities of Attica Official website
12.
Kifissia
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It has traditionally been home to rich Greek families and major Greek political families.100 km2, the municipal unit 25.937 km2. Kifisia is situated in central Attica, at the end of the forested Penteli mountain range. The small river Kifisos forms the border of the municipality. Kifisia is situated 12 km northeast of Athens city centre, the built-up area of Kifisia is continuous with those of the neighbouring suburbs Lykovrysi, Nea Erythraia, Marousi and Pefki. Kifisia consists of the neighbourhoods, Adames, Ano Kifisia, Kato Kifisia, Kefalari. It is a suburb with many parks and tree-lined streets. The main thoroughfare is Kifisias Avenue, which connects Kifisia with central Athens, the Kifisia station is the north terminus of Athens Metro Line 1. Cephisia was a deme of ancient Attica and it was the home of the famous dramatist Menander. Cephisia had become a famous retreat of philosophers during the reign of the Roman emperor Hadrian, in his Attic Nights, Aulus Gellius describes the unique ambiance of intellectual ferment and aristocratic leisure in an idyllic setting which he created there. It was also the practice of Herodes to provide instruction in philosophy for selected youths from Athens. The remains of some of his family funeral monuments lie at the centre of the town in Platonas Square and he also beautified a sanctuary to the Nymphs in the ravine of Kokkinara, in the nearby district of Kefalari. This chapel is an example of a monastery church originally provided with a fireplace. During Ottoman period, in 1667, Kifisia was visited by the Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi and he described a small country town set in a fertile plain of paradisaic beauty, with three hundred tile-roofed houses. Half the inhabitants of the town were Muslims and half were Christians and he records that there was a single mosque, without a minaret, and many small Christian chapels - some of which survive today. The temperature in Kifisia tends to be lower than that of the city, so following the independence of Greece. Its popularity faded somewhat during the middle of the Nineteenth Century when the danger of raids by brigands who infested the nearby mountains was very real, however, the suppression of brigandage, and the arrival of the railway in 1885, led to the dramatic development of the area. For those unable to afford a house, many hotels were built. Following the liberation of Greece from German occupation in 1944, the British Royal Air Force ill-advisedly made its headquarters in Kefalari, accenture, Aegean Airlines, Barcleys, BP, Eurobank Ergasias, Eltrak, Ferrari Metaxa, Walmart, and Volvo have their head office in Kifisia
Aspropyrgos
