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
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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
3.
Piraeus
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Piraeus is a port city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens urban area,12 kilometres southwest from its city center, the municipality of Piraeus and several other suburban municipalities within the regional unit of Piraeus form the greater Piraeus area, with a total population of 448,997. Piraeus has a recorded history, dating to ancient Greece. During the Golden Age of Athens the Long Walls were constructed to connect Athens with Piraeus, the port of Piraeus is the chief port in Greece, the largest passenger port in Europe and the second largest in the world, servicing about 20 million passengers annually. With a throughput of 1.4 million TEUs, Piraeus is placed among the top ten ports in container traffic in Europe, the city hosted events in both the 1896 and 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens. The University of Piraeus is one of the largest universities in Greece, Piraeus, which roughly means the place over the passage, has been inhabited since the 26th century BC. Consequently, it was called the Halipedon, meaning the salt field, through the centuries, the area was increasingly silted and flooding ceased, and thus by early classical times the land passage was made safe. In the late 6th century BC, the area caught attention due to its advantages, in 511 BC, the hill of Munichia was fortified by Hippias and four years later Piraeus became a deme of Attica by Cleisthenes. The Athenian fleet played a role in the battle of Salamis against the Persians in 480 BC. From then on Piraeus was permanently used as the navy base, the citys fortification was farther reinforced later by the construction of the Long Walls under Cimon and Pericles, with which Piraeus was connected to Athens. Meanwhile, Piraeus was rebuilt to the grid plan of architect Hippodamus of Miletus, known as the Hippodamian plan. As a result, Piraeus flourished and became a port of high security and great commercial activity, during the Peloponnesian War, Piraeus suffered its first setback. In the second year of the war, the first cases of the Athens plague were recorded in Piraeus, in 404 BC, the Spartan fleet under Lysander blockaded Piraeus and subsequently Athens surrendered to the Spartans, putting an end to the Delian League and the war itself. As a result, the tattered and unfortified port city was not able to compete with prosperous Rhodes, the destruction was completed in 395 AD by the Goths under Alaric I. Piraeus was led to a period of decline which lasted for fifteen centuries. During the Byzantine period the harbour of Piraeus was occasionally used for the Byzantine fleet and it was also called Porto Drako by Greeks, drako meaning not just dragon, but any monster. When Piraeus was taken by the Ottoman Empire in 1456, it known as Aslan Liman. The Piraeus Lion itself was looted in 1687 by Francesco Morosini during his expedition against Athens and was carried to the Venetian Arsenal, a copy of the lion statue is on display at the Archaeological Museum of Piraeus
4.
Port of Piraeus
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The Port of Piraeus is the largest Greek seaport and one of the biggest in the Mediterranean Sea. The Port of Piraeus served as the port of Athens since the ancient times, today, the Port of Piraeus is a major employer in the region and is operated by the Piraeus Port Authority S. A. With about 18.6 million passengers Piraeus was the busiest passenger port in Europe in 2014, since 2009 the ports container handling is growing rapidly. Piraeus handled 3.67 million TEUs in 2016, according to Lloyds list for top 100 container ports in 2015 Piraeus ranked 8th in Europe and 3rd the Mediterranean sea. Until the 3rd millennium BC, Piraeus was an island connected to the mainland by a low-lying stretch of land that was flooded with sea water most of the year. In 2002 PPA and the Greek government signed a concession agreement, the Greek government leased the port zone lands, buildings and facilities of Piraeus Port to PPA for 40 years. In 2008 the duration of the agreement was modified from 40 to 50 years. With this modification the lease is ending in 2052, since the Greek government-debt crisis started in late 2009 the Greek government planned to to privatize several state-owned assets. These assets are believed to be worth around 50 billion euros, one of these assets is the port of Piraeus. In October 2009 Greece leased half of the port from PPA to the China Ocean Shipping Company for a 35-year-period. For its prescence at the port COSCO is paying 100 million euros every year, Terminal 1 is operated by PPA S. A. and has a capacity of nearly 1 million TEUs. Terminal 2s capacity is 3 million TEUs and is run by Piraeus Container Terminal PCT S. A. a subsidiary of COSCO, in 2013, PCT finished the construction of Terminal 3 with a capacity of roughly 2.7 million TEU. The total port capacity is 6.7 m TEUs, cOSCOs involvement was accopanied by protest. According to trade unionists of PPA, the arrival of COSCO led to reductions in salary and social benefits, exclusion of union members and increased pressures on time and performance. According to an interview in 2012 with Harilaos N. Psaraftis, due to union rules a team of nine people was required to work a gantry crane. COSCO pays around $23,300 and only four people at a crane. Economic performance of container handling has greatly improved since 2009, before COSCO took over, the ports container handling record was at 1.5 million TEUs. These figures rose to about 3.58 million TEUs in 2014, in 2015 Piraeus handled 3.32 million TEUs
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Salamis Island
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Salamis, is the largest Greek island in the Saronic Gulf, about 1 nautical mile off-coast from Piraeus and about 16 kilometres west of Athens. The chief city, Salamina, lies in the core of the crescent on Salamis Bay. On the Eastern side of the island is its port, Paloukia, in size second in Greece only to Piraeus. The traditional etymology of Salamis derives it from the eponymous nymph Salamis, the mother of Cychreus, a more modern theory considers Salamis to come from the root sal salt and -amis middle, thus Salamis would be the place amid salt water. Some scholars connect it to the Semitic root Š-L-M health, safety, peace, from at least the 13th century until the 19th century, the town, the island, and the bay of Salamis were called Koulouri, presumably because it was round like the bread called koulouri. The ancient name was revived in the 19th century, the name Koulouri is still used informally for the town. Salamis is mentioned in Homers writings, according to Homers Iliad, Salamis took part in the Trojan War with twelve ships under the leadership of Ajax. Salamis island is known for the Battle of Salamis, the naval victory of the allied Greek fleet, led by Themistocles. It is said to be the birthplace of Ajax and Euripides, in modern times, it is home to Salamis Naval Base, headquarters for the Hellenic Navy. The oldest known counting board was discovered on Salamis Island in 1899 and it is thought to have been used by the Babylonians in about 300 BC and is more of a gaming board rather than a calculating device. It is marble, about 150 x 75 x 4.5 cm, during the German invasion of Greece in World War II, the harbor was bombed by the Luftwaffe on April 23,1941, sinking the Greek battleships Kilkis and Lemnos. In the 1960s and 1970s, during the military junta period and this opened the island to massive unplanned and unregulated urban and suburban development, including many weekend homes, especially along the northern and eastern coasts. The lack of corresponding investment in infrastructure, combined with industry, has led to sea. There are, however, ongoing initiatives such as help from the European Union’s Cohesion Fund toward improving sewerage by 2008, Salamis has an area of 36 square miles, its highest point is Mavrovouni at 1,325 feet. A significant part of Salamis Island is rocky and mountainous, on the southern part of the island a pine forest is located, which is unusual for western Attica. Unfortunately, this forest is often a target for fires, while the inland inhabitants are mainly employed within the agricultural sector, the majority of Salamis inhabitants work in maritime occupations or commute to work in Athens. Salamis Island is very popular for holiday and weekend visits from the Athens and Piraeus area and this supports a strong service industry sector, with many cafes, bars, ouzeries, tavernas and consumer goods shops throughout the island. Salamis Island belongs to the Islands regional unit of the Attica region, since the 2011 local government reform the island is administered as one municipality
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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
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Marousi
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Marousi or Maroussi is a suburban city in the northeastern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Amarousio dates back to the era of the ancient Athenian Republic, its ancient name was Athmonon, Marousi is situated 13 km northeast of Athens city centre. The municipality has an area of 12.938 km2, the built-up area of Marousi is continuous with those of the neighbouring suburbs Pefki, Kifisia, Vrilissia and Halandri. Within Marousi lies the biggest forest in urban Athens, Dasos Syngrou, the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, the largest sports complex in Greece, built for the 2004 Summer Olympics, is located in the southwestern part of the municipality. The main thoroughfare is Kifisias Avenue, which connects Marousi with central Athens, Marousi has 4 stations on Athens Metro Line 1, and two suburban commuter railway stations, Nerantziotissa station and Kifisias railway station. Marousi is also home to a number of public and private educational institutions. Marousis favourable infrastructure has led to economic growth. The managing office of Consolidated Contractors Company, a large Middle Eastern, the Mall Athens, one of the largest shopping centres in southeastern Europe, is situated in the southwestern part of Marousi. Vivartia has its office in Marousi. Google Athens is headquartered in Marousi, the new building of Greek Ministry of Education is located in Marousi, in the district Neratziotissa. In the same district is located the School of Pedagogical and Technological Education, the German School of Athens is also located in Marousi. Maroussi is the place of Greek Olympic Sport Center and it is located in the southwest of the suburb, in an area that is named Kalogreza. Maroussi has also some sport such as Dais Indoor Hall. Local teams are Maroussi B. C. with long-time presence in A1 Ethniki Basketball and A. C. Doukas with many titles in Handball and Futsal. The Olympic Stadium is used as home stadium by famous clubs of Greek football, currently by AEK, prince Michael lived in Marousi from his marriage to Marina Karella in 1965, since late 1970s
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Penteli, Greece
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Penteli is a town and a municipality in the North Athens regional unit, Attica, Greece. It belongs to the Athens metropolitan area and it takes its name from the Penteli mountain. The municipality has an area of 36.064 km2, the municipal unit Penteli 28.878 km2 and it is 14 km northeast of central Athens. Some of the neighbourhoods of Penteli are Agia Triada, Agios Dimitrios, Daou, the Penteli mountains were renowned in Classical Greece as well as in the Roman Empire as a source of the marble, which was also used to build the Parthenon. The Romans constructed a 140-foot water tower and aqueduct to supply water to the city of Athens, during the Greek War of Independence, the French philhellene Sophie de Marbois-Lebrun, Duchess of Plaisance supported the revolutionary leaders. When she settled in Greece in 1834, she bought large plots of land in Athens and she had the Rododafni Castle in Penteli built for her. In July 1995, Penteli was ravaged by a large forest fire, according to Turkish former prime minister, Mesut Yilmaz, many of the forest fires that raged the Greek countryside during that summer were accually started by Turkish secret service agents. The forests of Penteli suffered damage again from the August 2007 fires, Rododafni Castle, also known as Pyrgos Doukissis Plakentias, a mansion built for the Duchess of Plaisance. Construction was started in 1840, but it was not finished until 1961, the Penteli Astronomical Station of the National Observatory of Athens, completed in 1936 List of settlements in Attica Official website
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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
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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
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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
Perama
