Piraeus

Piraeus is a major port city located in the Attica region of Greece.

It sits southwest of the Athens city centre. The city lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf. This location puts it within the Athens Riviera. Piraeus is part of the larger Athens urban area, also known as Greater Athens. The municipality of Piraeus is one part of a larger regional unit. This regional unit includes four other suburban municipalities. The total population of the Greater Piraeus area is 448,051 people. The municipality of Piraeus itself has 168,151 residents as of the 2021 census. This makes it the fourth largest municipality in Greece. It is also the second largest municipality within the Athens urban area.

The city functions as a massive marine and commercial-industrial hub.

It is home to the largest harbour in Greece. The port of Piraeus is the chief port for the entire country. It also ranks as the 5th largest passenger port in Europe. On a global scale, it is the 24th largest passenger port in the world. In 2020, the port served approximately 4.37 million passengers annually. Piraeus is also a vital center for container traffic. It handles 5.44 million TEUs, which is a unit used to measure shipping containers. This volume places it among the ten busiest ports in Europe for containers. Furthermore, it is the busiest container port in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The geography of Piraeus has changed significantly over thousands of years. In prehistoric times, Piraeus was actually an island. It was connected to the mainland by a low-lying stretch of land. This land bridge was often flooded by seawater for most of the year. When the land was dry, it was used as a salt field. The ancient name for this area was the Halipedon, meaning "salt field." The muddy soil made the passage very difficult to cross. Over time, the area became more silted and dry. This meant that flooding eventually ceased. By the early classical period, the land passage could be crossed safely at all times. The area features the steep hill of Munichia and the modern-day Kastella.

Ancient history shows that Piraeus has been inhabited since at least the 26th century BC. In the early 5th century BC, it became the primary port for Athens.

The city utilized three deep-water harbours. These were the main port of Cantharus and two smaller ports named Zea and Munichia. These harbours eventually replaced the older, shallower Phaleron harbour. In 511 BC, Hippias fortified the hill of Munichia. Later, in 507 BC, Cleisthenes made Piraeus a deme of Athens. The historian Thucydides noted that Themistocles began fortification works in 493 BC. He advised Athenians to use these natural harbours for strategic purposes. A 2 percent duty was levied on goods passing through the port. This helped raise significant funds for the city of Athens.

Military and economic developments shaped the classical period of the city. In 483 BC, a new silver vein was found in the Laurion mines. The profits from this silver funded the construction of 200 triremes. A trireme is an ancient Greek warship. These ships were built in the shipyards of Piraeus. The Athenian fleet used these ships during the battle of Salamis in 480 BC. Following this, Piraeus became the permanent base for the navy. Themistocles also created the neosoikoi, which were special ship houses. The Themistoclean Walls were finished in 471 BC to secure the harbour. Later, the Long Walls were built under Cimon and Pericles.

These walls connected the port directly to the main city of Athens. The city was also rebuilt using the Hippodamian plan. This was a famous grid plan designed by the architect Hippodamus of Miletus.

The city faced many periods of conflict and decline. During the Peloponnesian War, the Athens plague spread to Piraeus. In 429 BC, the Spartans attacked Salamis near the port. In 404 BC, a Spartan fleet led by Lysander blockaded Piraeus. This led to the surrender of Athens. The Spartans tore down the city walls and the Long Walls. They also burnt some triremes and pulled down the neosoikoi. This left the port unable to compete with the prosperous city of Rhodes. Later, the Roman Lucius Cornelius Sulla captured and destroyed Piraeus in 86 BC. The destruction was completed in 395 AD by the Goths under Alaric I. This began a long period of decline lasting fifteen centuries.

Modern Piraeus began to grow again in the 19th century. This growth followed the establishment of Athens as the capital of Greece in 1832.

The municipality was officially established in 1835. It revived the ancient name of Piraeus. The city grew from a small town of 300 inhabitants into a major centre. Several developments helped this rapid expansion. The Athens-Piraeus Railway was completed in 1869. Industrial development began in the 1860s. The Corinth Canal was also created in 1893. By the end of the 19th century, the population reached 51,020 people. The city has since become a major site for education and sport. The University of Piraeus is one of the largest in Greece. It contains the country's second-oldest business school. The city also hosted events for the 1896 and 2004 Summer Olympics.