The Corinth Canal is one of the most impressive engineering works of modern Greece, linking the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf and effectively separating the Peloponnese from mainland Greece. The idea of cutting through the Isthmus is extremely ancient and took more than 2,500 years to become reality. Archaic Period The first recorded…
Southern Salamina is the quieter and less populated side of the island, where the coastline forms a series of small coves, rocky headlands and natural anchorages. Since antiquity the area has held particular maritime importance because it overlooks the Strait of Salamis, the passage separating the island from Attica and leading toward Piraeus and the…
The town of Megara, situated between the Saronic Gulf and the Corinthian Gulf, is one of the oldest settlements of western Attica. Its name has remained unchanged from antiquity to the present day, something rather rare for a Greek city with such a long history. The origin of the name is interpreted in two ways:…
The town of Elefsina, situated on the fertile Thriasian Plain, was one of the most important religious centres of the ancient Greek world. Along with Athens, Olympia, Delphi and Delos, it was considered one of the five sacred cities of ancient Greece. Here flourished the worship of Demeter and her daughter Persephone, deities closely associated…
The island of Salamina, the largest island in the Saronic Gulf, has been a place of considerable historical importance since antiquity. According to the geographer Strabo, the ancient city of Salamis during Homeric times was located near the area known today as Kolones, where the ruins of the ancient harbour and a tower can still…
At the southernmost tip of the Attica peninsula, where the land stretches dramatically into the Aegean Sea, rises the striking Cape Sounio, one of the most recognisable maritime landmarks in Greece. The bay of Sounio forms the southernmost inlet of Attica and occupies a geographically strategic position at the meeting point between the Aegean Sea…
Along the eastern shore of the Saronic Gulf, between Cape Sounio and Piraeus, lies one of the most geographically favoured stretches of the Attic coastline: the coastal zone of Vari, Voula and Vouliagmeni, widely known today as the “Three Vs.” Here the mountain mass of Mount Hymettus meets the sea, creating a landscape of sheltered…
Modern Glyfada, one of the best-known districts of the Athenian Riviera, stands on the site of the ancient deme of Aixone, an important coastal community of classical Athens. The territory of the deme extended from the shores of the Saronic Gulf — roughly where the four modern marinas of Glyfada are located today — up…
The modern municipality of Alimos, located between Glyfada and the Bay of Phaleron, occupies one of the oldest continuously inhabited areas along the Athenian coast of the Saronic Gulf. Like the neighbouring coastal communities, the region has been settled since the Neolithic period (around 3000 BC), as demonstrated by archaeological finds spanning the Mycenaean civilisation,…
Floisvos is today one of the best-known waterfront areas of Palaio Faliro, along the Athenian coast of the Saronic Gulf. The district developed around the historic Floisvos building, one of the oldest structures on the Faliro seafront, constructed in the late 19th century. The building remains a distinctive landmark of the area and is unique…