Chalandri ( Greek : Χαλάνδρι , Ancient Greek : Φλύα, Phlya , also Halandri , Khalandri ) is a town and a suburb in the northern part of the Athens agglomeration , Greece. It is a municipality of the Attica region.
54-464: Chalandri is a suburb in Northern Athens, around 12 kilometres (7 miles) from the centre; its location corresponds with one of the 10 ancient demes (boroughs) of Athens, known as Phlya ( Greek : Φλύα ). The municipality has an area of 10.805 km. 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
108-399: A deme or demos ( Ancient Greek : δῆμος , plural: demoi , δήμοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside existed in the 6th century BC and earlier, but did not acquire particular significance until the reforms of Cleisthenes in 508 BC. In those reforms, enrollment in the citizen-lists of a deme became
162-510: 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 Demeter's quest for her lost daughter (Kore the Maiden, or Persephone ) who had been abducted by Hades . It
216-529: A dream forbade me to describe. Under the Romans Eleusis enjoyed great prosperity, as initiation into its mysteries became fashionable among the Roman nobles. Hadrian was initiated into the Mysteries in about 125 and raised embankments in the plain of the river in consequence of a flood which occurred while he was spending the winter at Athens. To the same emperor most likely Eleusis was indebted for
270-779: A language shift. After the 1922 Asia Minor Catastrophe and the 1923 Greco-Turkish population exchange , some Greek refugees settled in the town. American Community Schools is located in Chalandri. Sport clubs of Chalandri with presence in Greek national divisions are AE Chalandriou (Athlitiki Enosi Chalandriou), GS Chalandriou (Gymnastikos Syllogos Chalandriou) and Nireas Chalandriou. The municipality of Chalandri has also created an extensive channel of sports installations such as tennis courts, football pitches, volleyball and basketball indoor and outdoor courts and also an indoor and outdoor olympic-size swimming pool in order to enhance
324-753: A privilege possessed by no other town in Attica, except Athens. The history of Eleusis is part of the history of Athens. Once a year the great Eleusinian procession travelled from Athens to Eleusis, along the Sacred Way . Eleusis was the site of the Eleusinian Mysteries , or the Mysteries of Demeter and Kore , which became popular in the Greek-speaking world as early as 600 BC, and attracted initiates during Roman Empire before declining mid-late 4th century AD. These Mysteries revolved around
378-536: A single general reapportionment of quotas within each of the first three periods, while there are evident small quota-variations between the first and the second periods. More precisely in: As regards the last two periods, the material illustrates the complete collapse of the quota-system from 201/200 BC. Some deme lists suggest extensions to the list of 139+3 Demes by adding 43 additional names, some of which have been considered by scholars as Attic demes. The criticism performed by John S. Traill shows that 24 are
432-565: A supply of good water by means of the aqueduct, completed in about 160 AD. Apart from satisfying the need for drinking water, it also enabled the construction of public fountains and baths. It was fed by springs in Mount Parnitha and used mainly underground tunnels. It crossed the Thriasian Plain and turned abruptly towards the south at the outskirts of Eleusis. The best visible remains are on the east side of Dimitros Street. It
486-604: Is a suburban city and municipality in Athens metropolitan area. It belongs to West Attica regional unit of Greece . It is located in the Thriasio Plain , at the northernmost end of the Saronic Gulf . North of Elefsina are Mandra and Magoula , while Aspropyrgos is to the northeast. It is the site of the Eleusinian Mysteries and the birthplace of Aeschylus . Today, Elefsina is a major industrial centre, with
540-594: Is also mentioned in the Homeric Hymn to Artemis ; it appears to have been in the neighbourhood of the city; but its site cannot be determined. It appears to have derived its name from the supposed advent (ἔλευσις) of Demeter, though some traced its name from an eponymous hero Eleusis. It was one of the 12 independent states into which Attica was said to have been originally divided. "When Athens had only just become Athens, it went to war with another city built thirteen miles away: Eleusis," Roberto Calasso wrote of
594-583: Is organized in honor of Aeschylus , who was born in Eleusis, from whom it derives its name. It includes stage productions, art exhibitions and installations, concerts, and dance events. Elefsina has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Csa ), bordering on a hot semi-arid climate ( BSh ) for the 1958-2010 period, according to the meteorological station operated by the Hellenic National Meteorological Service . Elefsina
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#1732783583523648-467: Is particularly hot during the summer, with an average July maximum of 33.2 °C (91.8 °F). According to Kassomenos and Katsoulis (2006), based on 12 years of data (1990–2001), the industrialization of west Attica , where at least 40% of the industrial activity of the country is concentrated, could be the cause of the warm climate of the zone. On June 4, 2024 the WMO station in the port of Elefsina broke
702-621: Is served by the Chalandri , Agia Paraskevi , Doukissis Plakentias as well as Nomismatokopio and Cholargos metro station (the latter two being shared with Papagou-Cholargos ). According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Chalandri has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate , abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps. The village was historically Arvanitika speaking, with 3,000 Arvanites inhabiting it, however due to its proximity to Athens , it has undergone
756-480: Is sometimes swollen to such an extent as to spread itself over a large part of the plain. Demosthenes (384 – 322 BC) alludes to inundations at Eleusis; Pausanias ( c. 110 – c. 180 AD ) has left us only a very brief description of Eleusis; The Eleusinians have a temple of Triptolemus , another of Artemis Propylaea, and a third of Poseidon the Father, and a well called Callichorum, where
810-575: The Eleusinian women first instituted a dance and sang in honour of the goddess. They say that the Rharian plain was the first place in which corn was sown and first produced a harvest, and that hence barley from this plain is employed for making sacrificial cakes. There the so-called threshing-floor and altar of Triptolemus are shown. The things within the wall of the Hierum [i.e., the temple of Demeter]
864-512: The Grecian mysteries down to the fall of paganism. Eleusis stood upon a height at a short distance from the sea, and opposite the island of Salamis . Its situation possessed three natural advantages. It was on the road from Athens to the Isthmus of Corinth ; it was in a very fertile plain; and it was at the head of an extensive bay, formed on three sides by the coast of Attica, and shut in on
918-586: The Hellenistic and mainly Roman eras the road was used for the exhibition of wealth and social power, with costly burial monuments being erected all along it. The road was in use until at least the 6th century AD. It is indicative that writers of the Byzantine era refer to it as a "small village", and shortly before the Ottoman domination the area was deserted by wars, raids and captives. During this period
972-620: The Thriassio General Hospital, located 3.9 km north of the city centre. Elefsina hosts the multi-sport club Panelefsiniakos with successful sections in football and basketball. Another historical club of Elefsina is Iraklis Eleusis , founded in 1928. Elefsina is twinned with: [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Smith, William , ed. (1854–1857). "Eleusis". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography . London: John Murray. *Not included
1026-525: The ancient Sacred Way over the Kephissus river is visible about 1 km from the Sanctuary of Demeter. The bridge is in very good condition and is an outstanding example of ancient bridge building. It consists of a central 30 m-long main bridge with 4 arches and 10 m-long sloping access on either side. The Sacred Way was the main road from Athens and led to Demeter's sanctuary, and was also the road used by
1080-495: The ancient provenance of the relationship between temple-city and the Attic seat of power. "It was a war usually described as mythical, since it has no date. And it was a theological war, since Athens belonged to Athena and Eleusis to Poseidon . Eumolpus and Erechtheus , the founding kings of the two cities, both died in it." It is related that in the reign of Eumolpus , king of Eleusis, and Erechtheus , king of Athens, there
1134-430: The annual Aeschylia Festival is held in honor of the great tragic poet Aeschylus. Elefsis Shipyards is located here. There is a military airport a few kilometers east of Elefsina. Elefsina Airfield played a crucial role in the final British evacuation during the 1941 Battle of Greece , as recounted by Roald Dahl in his autobiography Going Solo . Elefsina is home to the football club Panelefsiniakos F.C. , and
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#17327835835231188-427: The athletic spirit of the inhabitants. Also, due to the geographical convenience of the area of Chalandri there is an extensive bike route, covering the neighbourhoods from Doukissis Plakentias metro station, to Vrilissia and Gearakas area, reaching until Chalandri downtown city centre, providing safe transportations for families and individuals improving the life level of the area. Deme In Ancient Greece ,
1242-611: The basketball club Panelefsiniakos B.C. Established in 1975, the Aeschylia Festival in Eleusis in Western Attica is the currently the longest standing cultural event organized by an Attica Municipality . It is held annually at Palaio Elaiourgeio, a former soap factory by the seafront that functions as an open theatre. The festival usually is running at the end of August and during all of the September. The event
1296-400: The fire in order to endow him with immortality, until Metaneira found out and insulted her. Demeter arose insulted, and casting off her disguise, and, in all her glory, instructed Meteneira to build a temple to her. Keleos, informed the next morning by Metaneira, ordered the citizens to build a rich shrine to Demeter, where she sat in her temple until the lot of the world prayed to Zeus to make
1350-521: The fundamental units of the state weakened the gene , or aristocratic family groups, that had dominated the phratries. A deme functioned to some degree as a polis in miniature, and indeed some demes, such as Eleusis and Acharnae , were in fact significant towns. Each deme had a demarchos who supervised its affairs; various other civil, religious, and military functionaries existed in various demes. Demes held their own religious festivals and collected and spent revenue. Demes were combined within
1404-460: The industries in the region. Industrial activity, however, developed anarchically on the antiquities and next to the residential area. Environmental pollution has taken on large dimensions. During the 20th century, at the time of sustainable development, archaeological discoveries and industrial formation shaped the image of contemporary Eleusis. In 1962, a large house of priests from the Roman era
1458-825: The largest oil refinery in Greece as well as the home of the Aeschylia Festival , the longest-lived arts event in the Attica Region. On 11 November 2016, Elefsina was named the European Capital of Culture for 2021, which became effective in 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic postponement. The word Eleusis first appears in the Orphic Hymn to Eleusinian Demeter : «Δήμητρος Ελευσινίας, θυμίαμα στύρακα ». Also Hesychius of Alexandria reports that
1512-560: The main industrial centers of the Modern Greek state with concrete factory TITAN , Charilaou Soap Factory as well as the distilleries of Botrys and Kronos being established in the area. Arvanitika is still spoken in the village, with the locals qualifying their dialect more "noble" and "refined" than those of rural Arvanites. Many Greek families of Asia Minor settled in Elefsina after the 1922 Asia Minor Catastrophe and created
1566-466: The municipal unit has an area of 18.455 km (7.126 sq mi). Eleusis was a deme of ancient Attica , belonging to the phyle Hippothoöntis . It owed its celebrity to its being the chief seat of the worship of Demeter and Persephone , and to the mysteries celebrated in honour of these goddesses, which were called the Eleusinia , and continued to be regarded as the most sacred of all
1620-423: The neighbouring suburbs Filothei , Marousi , Vrilissia , Agia Paraskevi , Cholargos , Neo Psychiko and Psychiko . Nevertheless, it has still a high ratio of open green areas per citizen in the Athens agglomeration. Several embassies are based in Chalandri. 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
1674-463: The older name for Eleusis was Saesara (Σαισάρια). Saesara was the mythic daughter of Celeus (king of Eleusis when Demeter arrived for the first time) and granddaughter of Eleusinus, the first settler of Eleusis. The municipality of Elefsina was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following two former municipalities, that became municipal units: The municipality has an area of 36.589 km (14.127 sq mi), and
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1728-501: The procession every year of the celebration of the Great Mysteries escorting the sacred objects back to Eleusis. Its course is visible in some places and has been accurately traced by rescue excavations and ran parallel to its namesake in the modern city only a few metres to the south. Roadside cemeteries from different periods throughout antiquity are found next to it and prehistoric graves witness its existence by 1600 BC. During
1782-710: The record for the highest temperature ever recorded in Greece for the first 10 days of June from the National Observatory of Athens network. Until 2021, Elefsina was one of the areas in the Athens Metropolitan Area (the other one was Tatoi ) which held the record of the highest ever officially recorded temperature in Europe for 44 years with a reading of 48.0 °C (118.4 °F) on 10 July 1977. Elefsina has only one general hospital
1836-479: The requirement for citizenship; prior to that time, citizenship had been based on membership in a phratry , or family group. At this same time, demes were established in the main city of Athens itself, where they had not previously existed; in all, at the end of Cleisthenes' reforms, Athens was divided into 139 demes. Three other demes were created subsequently: Berenikidai (224/223 BC), Apollonieis (201/200 BC), and Antinoeis (AD 126/127). The establishment of demes as
1890-415: The result of error, ancient or modern, or of misinterpretation and 19 are well known chiefly from inscriptions of the second and third centuries AD, i.e. in the fifth period, and thus for political purposes they were originally dependent on legitimate Cleisthenic demes. There were six pairs of homonymous demes: There were six divided demes, one composed of three parts: When the city was settled under
1944-561: The right Persephone, clad in chiton and mantle and holding a torch, blesses Triptolemos with her right hand. The original marble relief was found at the sanctuary of Demeter, the site of the Eleusinian mysteries. A number of Roman copies also survive. During the Greco-Persian Wars , the ancient temple of Demeter was burnt down by the Persians in 484 BC; and it was not until the administration of Pericles that an attempt
1998-456: The same area to make trittyes , larger population groups, which in turn were combined to form the ten tribes, or phylai of Athens. Each tribe contained one trittys from each of three regions: the city, the coast, and the inland area. Cleisthenes divided the landscape in three zones—urban ( asty ), coastal ( paralia ) and inland ( mesogeia )—and the 139 demes were organized into 30 groups called trittyes ("thirds"), ten for each of
2052-539: The settlement of Upper Elefsina, doubling its total population and enriching the region culturally and economically. During the Axis occupation of Greece (1941–1945), strong resistance developed within the city, the factories and the military airport, which once stationed Squadron 80, the squadron that Roald Dahl was assigned to in the RAF. After World War II , workers from all parts of Greece moved to Elefsina to work in
2106-432: The south by the island of Salamis. The town itself dates from the most ancient times. The caves on the coast of Eleusis are home to a mythological place for the Greek world. There is a cave said to be the very spot where Persephone was abducted by Hades himself and the cave was considered a gateway to Tartarus. At the spot of this abduction was a sanctuary ( Ploutonion ) dedicated to Hades and Persephone. The Rharian plain
2160-483: The support of Pericles and the command of Lampon and Xenocritus the population was organized in ten tribes, following the Athenian organization: there were tribes for the population of 1. Arcadia , 2. Achaea , 3. Elis , 4. Boeotia , 5. Delphi , 6. Dorians , 7. Ionians , 8. population of Euboea , 9. the islands and 10. Athenians. The term "deme" ( dēmos ) survived into the Hellenistic and Roman eras. By
2214-551: The system was reorganized with the creation of two Macedonian Phylai (XI. Antigonis and XII. Demetrias ), named after Demetrius I of Macedon and Antigonus I Monophthalmus , and an increase in the membership of the Boule to 600. Each of the ten tribes, except Aiantis, provided three demes (not necessarily one for trittyes); the missing contribution of Aiantis was covered by two demes of Leontis and one from Aigeis. The Egyptian Phyle XIII. Ptolemais , named after Ptolemy III Euergetes
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2268-493: The temple underwent subsequent building phases. Much of that visible today is of the Classical era (5th century BC). Its portico of 12 columns was added in the time of Demetrius Phalereus , about 318 BC, by the architect Philo . When finished, it was considered one of the four finest examples of Grecian architecture in marble. Modifications were also carried out in Roman times (2nd c. AD). The Roman bridge that carried
2322-744: The time of the Byzantine Empire , the term was used to refer to one of the four chariot racing factions, the Reds, the Blues, the Greens and the Whites. In modern Greece, the term dēmos is used to denote one of the municipalities . Eleusis Elefsina ( Greek : Ελευσίνα , romanized : Elefsína ) or Eleusis ( / ɪ ˈ l j uː s ɪ s / ih- LEW -siss ; Ancient Greek : Ἐλευσίς , romanized : Eleusís )
2376-454: The world provide food again. The Great Eleusian relief which was famous in antiquity and was copied in the Roman period, is the largest and most important votive relief found and dates to 440-430 BC. It represents the Eleusinian deities in a scene depicting a mysterious ritual. On the left Demeter, clad in a peplos and holding a sceptre in her left hand, offers ears of wheat to Triptolemos, son of Eleusinian king Keleos, to bestow on mankind. On
2430-477: The zones and into ten tribes, or phylai , each composed of three trittyes , one from the coast, one from the city, and one from the inland area. Cleisthenes also reorganized the Boule , created with 400 members under Solon , so that it had 500 members, 50 from each tribe, each deme having a fixed quota. The ten tribes were named after legendary heroes and came to have an official order: In 307/306 – 224/223 BC
2484-475: Was a war between the two states, in which the Eleusinians were defeated, whereupon they agreed to acknowledge the supremacy of Athens in everything except the celebration of the mysteries, of which they were to continue to have the management. Eleusis afterwards became an Attic deme, but in consequence of its sacred character it was allowed to retain the title of polis (πόλις) and to coin its own money,
2538-480: Was created following the same scheme used for the creation of the Egyptian Phyle: each tribe contributed a deme and a new deme, Apollonieis, was created in honour of Apollonis, wife of Attalus I of Pergamum. As a consequence there were again 12 tribes and 600 members of the Boule. From this period onward, quotas were no longer assigned to the demes for the 50 Boule members from each tribe The last modification
2592-488: Was created in 224/223 BC and the Boule was again increased to 650 members, the twelve tribes giving each a demos. A new village was created and named Berenikidai after Ptolemy's wife Berenice II of Egypt . In 201/200 BC the Macedonian Phylae were dissolved and the villages (except the two given to Ptolemais) went back to their original tribes. In the spring of 200 BC Tribe XIV. Attalis , named after Attalus I ,
2646-556: Was destroyed by Alaric I in 396 AD, and from that time disappears from history. The Telesterion , or temple of Demeter, was the largest in all Greece, and is described by Strabo as capable of containing as many persons as a theatre. The building was initially designed by Ictinus , the architect of the Parthenon at Athens; but it was many years before it was completed, and the names of several architects are preserved who were employed in building it. During its long history,
2700-455: Was discovered. Pollution thanks to citizens' struggles gradually has fallen. Today, the city has become a suburb of Athens , to which it is linked by the A6 motorway and Greek National Road 8 . Eleusis is nowadays a major industrial 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, right beside where
2754-475: Was here that Demeter, disguised as an old lady who was abducted by pirates in Crete , came to an old well where the four daughters of the local king Keleos and his queen Metaneira ( Kallidike , Kleisidike , Demo and Kallithoe ) found her and took her to their palace to nurse the son of Keleos and Metaneira, Demophoon . Demeter raised Demophoon, anointing him with nectar and ambrosia and placing him at night in
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#17327835835232808-531: Was made to rebuild it. When the power of the Thirty Tyrants was overthrown after the Peloponnesian War , they retired to Eleusis, which they had secured beforehand, but where they maintained themselves for only a short time. The town of Eleusis and its immediate neighbourhood were exposed to inundations from the river Cephissus , which, though almost dry during the greater part of the year,
2862-524: Was settled by Arvanites . European travelers during the Ottoman domination described Eleusis as having few inhabitants and many ancient ruins. In 1829, after the Greek War of Independence , Elefsina was a small settlement of about 250 inhabitants. By the late 19th century Elefsina changed drastically as new buildings were erected by the new merchant settlers. Also during that period Eleusis became one of
2916-479: Was the creation in 126/127 of XV. Hadrianis , named after the Emperor Hadrian , following the same scheme: each tribe contributed a deme and a new deme, Antinoeis , was created in honour of Hadrian's favourite, Antinous . Each tribe contributed 40 members to the Boule. In the first three periods there it a more detailed system of fixed quotas which essentially remained unchanged. There is no evidence for
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