Historical region of Greece, including the city of Athens
This article is about the historical region of Greece. For the modern administrative region, seeAttica (region). For the Athenian neighbourhood, seeAttiki, Athens.
The history of Attica is closely linked with that of Athens. In ancient times, Attica corresponded with theclassical Athens city‑state. It was the most prominent region in Ancient Greece, specifically during theGolden Age of Athens in theclassical period.Ancient Attica was divided intodemoi, or municipalities, from the reform ofCleisthenes in 508/7 BC, grouped into three zones: urban (astu) in the region ofAthens main town, andPiraeus (the port), coastal (paralia) along the coastline, and inland (mesogeia) in the interior.
According to the Roman geographerPausanias, the place was originally namedActaea, but was later renamed in the honour ofAtthis, daughter of kingCranaus ofAthens.[1]
Attica is a triangularpeninsula jutting into theAegean Sea. It is naturally divided to the north fromBoeotia by the 10 mi (16 km) longCithaeron andParnes mountain ranges.
To the west ofEleusis, the Greek mainland narrows intoMegaris, connecting to thePeloponnese at theIsthmus of Corinth. The southwestern coast of Attica, also known as theAthens Riviera, forms the eastern coastline of theSaronic Gulf. Mountains separate the peninsula into the plains of Pedias,Mesogeia, and theThriasian Plain. The mountains of Attica are theHymettus, the eastern portion of theGeraneia,Parnitha (the highest mountain of Attica),Aigaleo andPenteli. Four mountains — Aigaleo, Parnitha, Penteli and Hymettus (clockwise from the southwest) — delineate the hilly plain on which the Athens urban area now spreads. The plain is pockmarked by a plethora of semi-continuous hills, the most notable ones being theTourkovounia,Lykavittos, theAcropolis of Athens itself andPhilopappou. Mesogeia lies to the east of Mount Hymettus and is bound to the north by the foothills of Mount Penteli, to the east by theEuboean Gulf and Mount Myrrhinous, and to the south by the mountains ofLavrio (modernLavreotiki), Paneio (Πάνειον Όρος), andLaureotic Olympus (Λαυρεωτικός Όλυμπος). The Lavrio region terminates inCape Sounion, forming the southeastern tip of the Attic peninsula.
Athens' water reservoir,Lake Marathon, is artificial and was created by damming in 1920. Pine and fir forests cover the area around Parnitha. Hymettus, Penteli, Myrrhinous and Lavrio are forested with pine trees, whereas the rest are covered by shrubbery. Parts of the sprawling forests of mount Penteli and Parnitha have been lost to forest fires, while the Synngrou Estate on the foothills of the former (intersecting the border between the suburban towns ofKifisia,Melissia andMarousi is home to the sole remaining natural forest in the Athenian plain.
TheKifisos is the longest river in Attica, which starts from the foothills of mount Parnitha near Varibobi, crosses the Athenian plain and empties into the delta ofFaliro east of the port of Piraeus.
According toPlato, Attica's ancient boundaries were fixed by theIsthmus, and, toward the continent, they extended as far as theheights ofCithaeron andParnes. The boundary line came down toward the sea, bounded by the district ofOropus on the right and by the riverAsopus on the left.
During antiquity, the Athenians boasted about beingAutochthones", the original inhabitants of the area (that is, anindigenous people, arising locally, not settlers or colonisers). The traditions current in the classical period recounted that, during theGreek Dark Ages, Attica had become the refuge of theIonians, who belonged to a tribe from the northern Peloponnese. Supposedly, the Ionians had been forced out of their homeland by theAchaeans, who in turn had been forced out of their homeland by theDorian invasion.[2][incomplete short citation] Supposedly, the Ionians integrated with the ancient Atticans, who, afterward, considered themselves part of the Ionian tribe and spoke the Ionian dialect of Ancient Greek. Many Ionians later left Attica to colonise the Aegean coast ofAsia Minor and to create the twelve cities ofIonia.[3][4]: 42–52
Ancient site ofVravronaA Chalkidian Amphora, ca. 550 BC, showing asatyr startling amaenad. Museo Nazionale Etrusco, Rome.
According to tradition, Attica comprised twelve small communities during the reign ofCecrops, the legendary Ionian king of Athens.Strabo assigns these the names ofCecropia,Tetrapolis,Epacria,Decelea,Eleusis,Aphidna,Thoricus,Brauron,Cytherus,Sphettus,Cephisia, and possibly Phaleron. These were said to have been later incorporated in an Athenian state during the reign ofTheseus, the mythical king of Athens.[6][incomplete short citation] Modern historians consider it more likely that the communities were progressively incorporated into an Athenian state during the 8th and the 7th centuries BC.[7][8]: 166, 170
Until the 6th century BC,aristocratic families lived independent lives in the suburbs of Athens, such asKolonos Hippios. Only afterPeisistratos's tyranny and the reforms implemented byCleisthenes did the local communities lose their independence and succumb to the central government inAthens. As a result of these reforms, Attica was divided into approximately a hundred municipalities, thedemes (δῆμοι,dēmoi), and also into three large sectors: the city (ἄστυ), which comprised the areas of central Athens,Ymittos,Aegaleo and the foot of Mount Parnes (Parnitha), the coast (παράλια), that included the area betweenEleusis and CapeSounion and the area around the city (ἐσωτερικό-μεσογαία), inhabited by people living on the north of MountParnitha,Penteliko and the area east of the mountain ofHymettus on the plain ofMesogeia. Principally, each civic unit would include equal parts of townspeople, seamen, and farmers. Atrittýs ('third') of each sector constituted a tribe. Consequently, Attica comprised ten tribes.
During the Peloponnesian war, Attica was invaded and raided several times by theLacedaemonians, while in the war's third phase the fortress of Decelea was captured and fortified by Lacedaemon.
During theclassical period, Athens was fortified to the north by the fortress ofEleutherae, which is preserved well. Other fortresses are those ofOenoe,Decelea,Phyle andAphidnae. To protect the mines atLaurium, on the coast, Athens was protected by the walls atRhamnus,Thoricus,Sounion,Anavyssos,Piraeus, andElefsina.[5] Although these forts and walls had been constructed, Attica did not establish a fortification system until later, in the 4th century BC.[9] Attica's warfare is displayed by piles of rubble from fortresses from the Chremonidean war.[9]
Even thougharchaeological ruins of religious importance are found in nearly the whole area of Attica, the most important are those found inEleusis. The worship of the goddessesDemeter andCora, beginning in theMycenaean period, continued until the late years of antiquity.
The festival ofChalceia was celebrated every autumn in Attica. The festival honoured the godsHephaestus andAthena Ergane. In the deme ofAthmonon, in modern-dayMarousi, the Athmoneia games were also celebrated.
After the period of antiquity, Attica came underRoman,Byzantine,Venetian, andOttoman rule. In the Roman period, the ScandinavianHeruli tribe raided Athens and Attica in 267 AD, destroying most of the city and laying waste to the countryside. During theByzantine period Athens was an important mid-sized city. In 396 Attica was invaded by theGoths under the command ofAlaric. Attica's population diminished in comparison to the neighbouring area ofBoeotia.
The sites of historical interest date to the 11th and 12th centuries, when Attica was under the rule of theFranks. The great monastery of Dafni, that was built underJustinian I's rule, is an isolated case that does not signify a widespread development of Attica during the Byzantine period. On the other hand, the buildings built during the 11th and 12th centuries show a greater development that continued during the rule of the Franks, who did not impose strict rule.[citation needed]
From the 14th century onwards, theArvanites came to Attica from what is todaysouthern Albania. They were mostly invited as mercenaries by the local Greek lords.
During the Ottoman rule, Athens enjoyed some rights. However, that was not the case for the villages of Attica. Great areas were possessed by theTurks, who terrorised the population with the help ofsipahis. The monasteries of Attica played a crucial role in preserving the Greek element of the villages.
In spite of its conquerors, Attica managed to maintain its traditions. This fact is proved by the preservation of ancienttoponyms such asOropos,Dionysus,Eleusis, andMarathon. During theGreek War of Independence in the 1820s, the peasants of Attica were the first to revolt (April 1821), occupyingAthens and seizing theAcropolis that was handed over to the Greek revolutionaries in June 1822.[5]
Attica belonged to the newly-founded Greek state from its founding. From 1834,Athens was made the new Greek capital (moved fromNafplio inArgolis), which caused the gradual repopulation of Attica by other people around Greece. The most dramatic surge came with Greek refugees fromAnatolia following theGreek genocide and later the population exchanges between Greece andTurkey under theTreaty of Lausanne. Today, much of Attica is occupied by urban Athens, encompassing the entirety of the Athenian plain.[10] The modern Greek region of Attica includes classical Attica as well as theSaronic Islands, a small part of thePeloponnese aroundTroezen, and theIonian Island ofKythira.
^Mac Sweeney, Naoíse (2021). "Regional Identities in the Greek World: Myth and Koinon in Ionia".Historia.70 (3):268–314.doi:10.25162/historia-2021-0011.
^Tsaktsiras, Lambros;Tiverios, Michalis A. (1994).Ιστορία των αρχαίων χρόνων ως το 30 π. Χ. : για την Αʹ τάξη του Γυμνασίου [History of ancient times up to 30 BC: For the 1st grade of the Gymnasium] (in Greek) (13th ed.). Athens: ΟΕΔΒ. p. 115.
^Στατιστική Επετηρίδα της Ελλάδος 2002 [Statistical Yearbook of Greece 2002](PDF) (in Greek and English).National Statistical Service of Greece. 2003. p. 54. [The table includes the urban areas of Greece, officially defined by theNational Statistical Service of Greece, powered by the Ministry of Finance of Greece. The municipality of Piraeus and its greater area belong to the Athens urban area or Greater Athens (Πολεοδομικό Συγκρότημα Αθηνών, 'Athens Urban Complex').]
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