Eëtioneia ( grc, Ἠετιώνεια or Ἠτιώνεια) is a narrow tongue of land commanding the entrance to the deep water harbors of
Piraeus
Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...
-- principally ''Kántharos'' -- which were highly strategic in the time of
ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
. It is situated opposite Cape Alkimos; ships entering the harbor found Eëtioneia to port and Cape Alkimos to starboard.
It was here that the forces of the
Four Hundred oligarchs in the Athenian coup of 411 BC erected a fort in order to prevent the entrance of the naval fleet of
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, which was opposed to them.
The fortress was razed in 404 BCE at the instigation of
Theramenes, but later rebuilt around 395 or 394 BCE.
The Eëtioneia fortifications still survive today, with some ruins present in the Piraeus archaeological site.
References
{{DGRG, author=WS, title= Athenae, volume=1, page=308, url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Dictionary_of_Greek_and_Roman_Geography/9y0BAAAAQAAJ
Ancient Greek fortifications in Greece
Piraeus