Kaisariani

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Kaisariani Καισαριανή
Location
Kaisariani
Coordinates	37°58′N 23°45′E / 37.967°N 23.75°E / 37.967; 23.75Coordinates: 37°58′N 23°45′E / 37.967°N 23.75°E / 37.967; 23.75
Time zone:	EET/EEST (UTC+2/3)
Elevation (center):	130 m (427 ft)
Government
Country:	Greece
Periphery:	Attica
Prefecture:	Athens
Districts:	1
Mayor:	Spýros Tzókas
Population statistics (as of 2001[1])
City
- Population:	26,419
- Area:[2]	7.841 km² (3 sq mi)
- Density:	3,369 /km² (8,727 /sq mi)
Codes
Postal:	161 21
Telephone:	210
Auto:	Z
Website
www.kessariani.gr

Kaisariani (Greek: Καισαριανή), also Kessariani, is a suburb in the eastern part of Athens, Greece. Kaisariani is located about 7 km from downtown Athens, about 4 km SW of Katechaki Avenue 4 km from the Hymettus Ring (number 65), which forms part of the Attiki Odos private superhighway network, and 6 km S of Kifissias Avenue. The city is accessed through Olof Palme Avenue.

[edit] Subdivisions

[edit] Ano Kaisariani

The area was once used for farmland and forests dominated its reach. The area was of mixed farming including pastures, vegetables, and groves. In the mid-20th century, suburban housing development from Athens spread across and eliminated farmland, leaving empty space to the southeast. The forests are situated in the east, making up Mount Hymettus' largest forest, and the forested area also contains a valley with a road linking Athens' nearby communication tower. The University of Athens is to the northeast, mainly in Zografou, while the rest of the area is made up of residential buildings. Kaisariani has a hill in the centre, and much of the land in the east is rocky terrain and forests of Hymettus; the municipality is about 85 square kilometres, of which 75 square kilometres are mountainous and also forested. The Kaisariani Monastery can be found to the southeast in the Hymettus mountain, while the eastern bypass of Athens lies in the east. The town also has its own Greek A2 League basketball team, named Near East Kaisariani, which was founded in 1927. The team plays in the Kaisariani Stadium.

[edit] History

The town was founded in 1922 as a refugee camp for refugees driven from Asia Minor. Most of whom coming from Smyrna. The municipality was created in 1934, out of a former subdivision of the city of Athens.

A dark part of the modern history of Greece was written at the Rifle Range of Kessariani, where hundreds of Greek people were prosecuted by the Nazi occupiers. There, on the May 1st, 1944, 200 Greek political activists were prosecuted, as a revenge for the death of a German general, who was killed during a battle with guerrillas, in Molai, Sparti.

The early hours of June 17, 1944, 10 men of the Youth revolutionary organization EPON and guerillas of the National Liberation Front were killed, when trapped by the Nazi forces at the Monastery of Kessariani, where they had been hiding.

[edit] Other

Kaisariani has schools, lyceums, gymnasia, banks, post offices and squares (plateies).

[edit] Historical population

[edit] Notable people

• Themis Adamantidis, singer
• Christos Dantis, singer and songwriter
• Anna Fonsou, actress
• Stelios Giannakopoulos, footballer
• Antonis Kalogiannis, singer
• Evangelos Kouloumbis, politician
• Thanassis Papageorgiou, actor

[edit] See also

• List of municipalities of Attica

[edit] External links

• Mapquest - Kaisariani
• Photos of Kaisariani
• City of Kaisariani official website
• Kesariani Online
• Kaisariani Theatre

[edit] References