Galatsi ( el, Γαλάτσι, ''Galátsi'' ), called in

Katharevousa Katharevousa ( el, Καθαρεύουσα, , literally "purifying anguage) is a conservative form of the Modern Greek language conceived in the late 18th century as both a literary language and a compromise between Ancient Greek and the contempor ...

Galatsion ( el, Γαλάτσιον, ''Galátsion''), is a northern suburb 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 ...

, Greece, and a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

of the

Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean Se ...

region. The municipality has an area of 4.026 km². Until the mid-20th century, the area was mainly made up of farmlands but due to the continuous expansion of the Greek capital, Galatsi was rapidly urbanised and has come to lie in the center of the Athens

agglomeration Agglomeration may refer to: * Urban agglomeration, in standard English * Megalopolis, in Chinese English, as defined in China's ''Standard for basic terminology of urban planning'' (GB/T 50280—98). Also known as " city cluster". * Economies of ag ...

Etymology

Although several etymologies have been proposed about the origin of the name ''Galatsi'', which already appears in the book of 1870, ''History of Athens'', it originates from the surname of Symeon Galakis, a squire who purchased lands around the church of Agia Glykeria in 1851. Consequently, the whole area was given his name, which, according to the phenomenon featuring the old Athenian phonology and known as tsitakism, was pronounced 'Galatsis', thus the name of the area was finally ''Galatsi''. An alternative theory suggests that it derived from ''gala'', the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

word for the ''milk'' that the shepherds of the area's rangelands yelled hovering around in order to sell their products.

Geography

Galatsi is an inner suburb of Athens, located northeast of the city centre. Its built-up area is continuous with those of Central Athens and neighbouring suburb

Nea Ionia Nea Ionia ( el, Νέα Ιωνία, meaning New Ionia) is a northern suburb of Athens, Greece, and a municipality of the Attica region. It was named after Ionia, the region in Anatolia from which many Greeks migrated in the 1920s as a part of the ...

. It is one of the most densely populated areas of Athens, with a high percentage of its lands covered by flora though, as the hill of

Tourkovounia The Tourkovounia ( el, Τουρκοβούνια), also known as Lykovounia (Λυκοβούνια, "wolf mountains") and in Antiquity called Anchesmos (), is a hill range in Athens, Attica. The name has also been transferred to a neighbourhood in Ce ...

with its forests and the park

Alsos Veikou Alsos may refer to: Places *Alsos Forest, a natural park in Nicosia, Cyprus * Alsos, Achaea, a village in the municipality of Sympoliteia in Achaea, Greece *Alsos Nea Smyrni *Alsos Veikou, a public park in Galatsi, in northern Athens, Greece *Also ...

are among the major "green lungs" within the centre of Athens. The famous

Grava school complex The Grava school complex ( el, Σχολικό Συγκρότημα Γκράβας) in Athens, is one of the largest school complexes in Greece, where 24 different schools are located, from kindergartens to high-schools. Location It is located in ...

is located there, as are many other educational foundations and public and private institutes.

Demography

Sites of interest

, a beautiful leafy park *

Galatsi Olympic Hall The Galatsi Olympic Hall is a multi-use indoor arena that is located in Galatsi, Athens, Greece. It was the site of table tennis and rhythmic gymnastics at the 2004 Summer Olympics. The Galatsi Olympic Hall has a seating capacity of 6,200, which ...

- where table tennis and gymnastics were played. It holds up to 6,200 seats Website

*

Omorfokklisia Omorfokklisia ( el, Ομορφοκκλησιά, "beautiful church") is a 12th-century Greek Orthodox church in Galatsi, a northeastern suburb of Athens, Greece. This church dedicated to Saint George is considered one of the landmarks of the area. ...

, a 12th-century church in an area known for its peace and calmness

Transportation

* Trolleys: 5 & 14 * Busses: 608, 444, 036, 622. From 5 April 2019 the line Ano Galatsi - Lamprini (with a second phase the extension to the rest of Galatsi and Metro StationsΓραμμή Απριλίου 2019 σελ.11
/ref>) * Metro: Line 4 by 3 stations: Alsos Veikou, Galatsi and Elikonos (2027)

References

External links

Official website

G-Magazine

Galatsinews
{{Kallikratis-Attica Municipalities of Attica Populated places in Central Athens (regional unit)