Elefsina ' onMouseout='HidePop("32133")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Katharevousa">Katharevousa
Katharevousa , is a form of the Greek language conceived in the early 19th century by Greek intellectual and revolutionary leader Adamantios Korais . A graduate of the University of Montpellier in 1788, Korais spent most of his life as an expatriate in Paris...
: Eleusis) is a town and
municipalityThe municipalities and communities of Greece are one of several levels of government within the organizational structure of that country. Thirteen regions called peripheries form the largest unit of government beneath the State. Within these peripheries are 54 second-level areas called prefectures...
about 20 km NW of Athens.
Elefsina ' onMouseout='HidePop("32133")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Katharevousa">Katharevousa
Katharevousa , is a form of the Greek language conceived in the early 19th century by Greek intellectual and revolutionary leader Adamantios Korais . A graduate of the University of Montpellier in 1788, Korais spent most of his life as an expatriate in Paris...
: Eleusis) is a town and
municipalityThe municipalities and communities of Greece are one of several levels of government within the organizational structure of that country. Thirteen regions called peripheries form the largest unit of government beneath the State. Within these peripheries are 54 second-level areas called prefectures...
about 20 km NW of Athens. It is located near the northernmost end of the
Saronic GulfThe Saronic Gulf or Gulf of Aegina in Greece forms part of the Aegean Sea and defines the eastern side of the isthmus of Corinth. It is the eastern terminus of the Corinth Canal, which cuts across the isthmus...
and is the seat of administration of
West AtticaWest Attica is one of the prefectures of Greece. It is part of the periphery of Attica. The capital of the prefecture is the town of Elefsina. The prefecture covers the western part of the agglomeration of Athens, and the area to its west....
PrefectureGreece consists of 13 administrative regions known as Peripheries of Greece, which are further subdivided into 3 super-prefectures and 54 prefectures or nomes ....
. It is best known for having been the site of the
Eleusinian MysteriesThe Eleusinian Mysteries were initiation ceremonies held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. Of all the mysteries celebrated in ancient times, these were held to be the ones of greatest importance. These myths and mysteries, begun in the Mycenean...
, the most famous religious center of ancient
GreeceGreek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
. It was also the birth place of
AeschylusAeschylus was an ancient Greek playwright. He is often recognized as the father of tragedy, and is the earliest of the three Greek tragedians whose plays survive, the others being Sophocles and Euripides...
, one of the three great tragedians of antiquity. See also
MetaniraIn Greek mythology, Metanira was a queen of Eleusis and wife of Celeus. While Demeter was searching for her daughter, having taken the form of an old woman called Doso, she received a hospitable welcome from Celeus, the King of Eleusis in Attica. He asked her to nurse Demophon and Triptolemus, his...
. Elefsina currently is the city with the highest ever officially recorded temperature in Europe of on 10 July 1977.
Ancient Eleusís
In the Classical period of Greece, from as early as 1700 BC up to the era of the Roman Empire, Eleusina, or Eleusis, was the site of the
Eleusinian MysteriesThe Eleusinian Mysteries were initiation ceremonies held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. Of all the mysteries celebrated in ancient times, these were held to be the ones of greatest importance. These myths and mysteries, begun in the Mycenean...
, 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. Traditionally in Ancient Greece there was no positive outlook of death, one would cross the River Styx and enter Hades, however the Eleusinian Mysteries gave Greek speakers of that time a hope of a better life in Hades. 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 an ear of corn. The Mysteries are attributed to Demeter and her daughter Kore, or Persephone, and were created while Demeter searched for her lost daughter who had been abducted by Hades.
Modern Eleusína
Today, the city has become a suburb of Athens, and is linked by the freeway, the
Athens metro freeway (Attiki Odos)Attiki Odos is a private-owned toll motorway in Greece. The Proastiakos high-speed suburban rail is almost entirely in the median through the main section. Its numbers are 6 for the main section, 64 for Imittos Ring and 65 for Aigaleo Ring. They are the outer ring roads of Greater Athens...
, and Athens metro (transit). A toll post named after the community is on the westbound lanes of GR-8A. A hill is near between the tolls and the refinery North of Eleusis is Mandra and Magoula, and northeast is the Thriasian plain containing Aspropyrgos is founded. It lies northeast of the Gulf of Eleusina.
Elefsina is the town where the majority of crude oil in Greece is imported and refined. The refinery nearest to the city is on its west side. The other major town is
AspropyrgosAspropyrgos is a suburb of Athens located 20 km NW of the city center in the Thriasian plain. The municipality had a population of 27,741 at the 2001 census.Etymology=...
, next to the
shipyardShipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
s of Skaramagkas.
Forests align with the bay with a length of around 200 m. The nearest mountain is in the northwest. Athens's nearest military airport is a few kilometers east of Elefsina. It has been used since the mid-20th century. Its runway is about 2 km and its buildings are to the west. It sits in the Thriasian/Eleusina Plain. It has a nearby interchange slightly north of the Eleusina(east) interchange about 2 km west.
They are home to the junior football (soccer) team Panelefsiniakos.
Historical population
| Year | Municipal population | Change | Density |
|---|
| 1981 |
20,320 |
1,101.1/km² |
| 1991 |
22,793 |
+2,473/+12.17% |
1,235.1/km² |
| 2001 |
25,863 |
+3,070/+13.47% |
1,401.4/km² |
Persons
- Aeschylus
Aeschylus was an ancient Greek playwright. He is often recognized as the father of tragedy, and is the earliest of the three Greek tragedians whose plays survive, the others being Sophocles and Euripides...
(c. 525 BC/524 BC – c. 456 BC/455 BC), playwright
- Stelios Kazantzidis
Stelios Kazantzidis was a prominent Greek singer. Between the 1950s and 1990s he was considered the voice of the Greek diaspora...
(1931–2001), singer
- Orestis Laskos
Orestis Laskos was a Greek film director, screenwriter and actor.He directed 55 films between 1931 and 1971...
(1908–1992), director, screenwriter and actor
- Theodoros Pangalos
Theodoros Pangalos is a Greek politician. He is the Vice-President of the Greek government, responsible for the coordination of Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defense and Economic & Social Policy Committee.Pangalos was actively involved against the 1967 military dictatorship, and...
(1938– ), politician
External links