Glyfada ( el, Γλυφάδα, ) is a suburb in South Athens located in the Athens Riviera along the Athens coast. It is situated in the southern parts of the

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 ...

' Urban Area. The area stretches from the foot of the Hymettus mountain to the

Saronic Gulf The Saronic Gulf (Greek: Σαρωνικός κόλπος, ''Saronikós kólpos'') or Gulf of Aegina in Greece is formed between the peninsulas of Attica and Argolis and forms part of the Aegean Sea. It defines the eastern side of the isthmus of Co ...

. It is the largest of Athens' southern suburbs.

History

In ancient times, the area was a

deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and ear ...

known as Aixone (). Today, Glyfada is packed with some of the capital's best-known nightclubs, upscale restaurants and shops. It could be argued to be one of the most " Americanized" of Athenian municipalities, since an American airbase was located nearby until the early 1990s. The base's population contributed in part to Glyfada's character, leading to a unique blend of Greek and American atmosphere and cuisine. Although the base is now gone and the school relocated, Glyfada still retains part of its American flavor while continuing to offer distinctly Greek cuisine, entertainment and nightlife. Glyfada was established as the heart of Athens' southern suburbs, because of its prime waterfront location, rich commercial center, and modern business district. It has been described as the headpoint of the 'Athens Riviera' and features some of Europe's most opulent seafront residences, gardens and extensive beachfront property, with a modern marina. The town hall is located at the center of the municipality; nearby, Glyfada's shopping district has one of the most vibrant and diversified commercial centers of Athens' neighborhoods, with a collection ranging across specialist and designer boutiques. Its proximity to a succession of Beaches and a concentrated seaside club scene also greatly increases the number of visitors during the summer months. The area's shopping district runs across Metaxa Avenue and Grigoriou Labraki Street while both the offices of major businesses and shopping areas also dot the Avenues Vouliagmenis, Gounari and Gennimata. At the beginning of the 20th century the town had already changed its name to "Glyfada", a name given because of the presence of salt-water wells typical of this area.

Geography

The municipality has an area of 25.366 km² and it is located in the Athens Riviera. Glyfada Marina includes marine space and coastal land area totaling , and a concrete land mass between basins A and B with a length of roughly , between basins B and G with a length of roughly , between basins G and D with a length of roughly , and between basin D until the end of the basin of roughly , with all harbor facilities and buildings found within this space. Northwest is the

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

, the ''Glyfada Golf Club'', located south of the former Ellinikon Airport. To the east and northeast there is an

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

which spreads over the southwest shoulder of Mt. Hymettus and its rocky landscape.

Transportation

Glyfada is connected to central Athens via two major avenues (

Poseidonos Avenue Poseidonos Avenue ( el, Λεωφόρος Ποσειδώνος), also known as Paraliaki (), is the main coastal road of Athens, Greece. It runs from new Faliro in Piraeus to Glyfada and beyond, traversing all the coastal suburbs of Athens; thus it ...

and

Vouliagmenis Avenue Vouliagmenis Avenue () is one of the longest avenues in the Greater Athens area, stretching from central Athens to the seaside resort of Vouliagmeni. The total length is 21 km. The avenue begins at Athanasios Diakos Street and Michalakop ...

) and a tram line operated by STASY S.A which goes across the seaside next to Poseidonos Avenue. An extension of the

Line 2 Line 2 or 2 Line may refer to: Public transport Americas *2 (New York City Subway service), a rapid transit service in the A Division of the New York City Subway *2 Line (Sound Transit), a light rail line in Seattle, Washington *Line 2 Bloor–Dan ...

of Athens Metro from

Elliniko station Elliniko ( el, Ελληνικό) is the current southern terminus on Athens Metro Line 2 (Athens Metro), Line 2 since the Elliniko extension opened on 26 July 2013. With the opening of the station, travel time from Elliniko to Syntagma Square was ...

to the south, with two stations in Ano Glyfada and Glyfada is being planned. A version of these plans includes a third station between Ano Glyfada and Glyfada stations.

Municipality

32,492 people registered with the Municipality of Glyfada voted during the Municipal Elections of October 2006. At the second round, 54.79% of the votes were for Thanasis Papakostas, who was the mayor of Glyfada for the 2006–2010 period. Kostantinos Kokoris was just elected mayor. In 2014, George Papanikolaou was elected mayor in the Glyfada municipality.

Sports

The

Glyfada Indoor Hall National Athletic Center Glyfada Makis Liougas, commonly known as Glyfada Indoor Hall (Greek: Εθνικό Αθλητικό Κέντρου Γλυφάδας Ματθαίος Λιούγκας) is an indoor arena that is located in Glyfada, Athens ...

is located at the Municipality, formerly a major indoor sport venue of local Athens teams. Glyfada is the seat of ANO Glyfada, club with many honours in Greek Water Polo and

Glyfada F.C. Athlitikos Omilos Glyfadas ( el, Α.Ο. Γλυφάδας), formerly Keravnos Glyfada, is a Greece, Greek Football (soccer), football club, based in Glyfada, Athens, currently competing in the second category of the EPS Athens (Ε.Π.Σ. Αθηνώ ...

Famous residents and people

Sophia Aliberti Sophia Aliberti ( el, Σοφία Αλιμπέρτη) is a Greek talk show and game show host since 2004, television actress and former fashion model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial produc ...

, TV personality and actress *

Bessy Argyraki Bessy Argyraki is a Greek pop music, pop singer who started her career in the mid 1970s and recorded albums until the mid '90s. She has represented Greece in many International festivals and won many prizes. She has released a single and an albu ...

, Greek singer, Eurovision contestant and ex member of Glyfada's city council * Anna Diamantopoulou, former Greek EU representative and former minister of Education *

Christos Dantis Christos Dantis ( el, Χρήστος Δάντης; born Christos Vlahakis, 26 September 1966), is a Greek multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, lyricist, and record producer best known for his hits such as "To Palio Mou Palto" and "Ena Tra ...

, Greek Rock artist *

Predrag Đorđević Predrag Đorđević ( sr-cyr, Предраг Ђорђевић; also transliterated Predrag Djordjević; born 4 August 1972) is a Serbian former professional footballer. Known for his set pieces, Đorđević played as a left midfielder for Greek ...

, Serbian footballer *

Evridiki Evridiki Theokleous ( el, Ευρυδίκη Θεοκλέους, ; born 25 February 1968), known professionally as simply Evridiki, is a Greek-Cypriot rock, pop, and electropop singer. She is best known in Europe for representing her home countr ...

, Greek Singer * Eleni Foureira, Greek Singer *

Takis Fyssas Takis Fyssas ( el, Τάκης Φύσσας, born 12 June 1973) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a left back. He works as the sporting director of the Greece national team. He was previously the technical director of the ...

, Greek footballer * Mihalis Hatzigiannis, Greek Cypriot artist *

Kalomira Maria Kalomira Sarantis ( gr, Μαρία Καλομοίρα Σαράντη; born January 31, 1985), known professionally as Kalomira (sometimes Romanization of Greek, transliterated as Kalomoira), is a Greek Americans, Greek-American singer, son ...

, Pop singer and

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

contestant * Giorgos Karagounis, Greek footballer *

Zeta Makripoulia Zeta Makripoulia (Greek: Ζέτα Μακρυπούλια; born 31 July 1978) is a Greek actress, TV hostess and former model. Career Makripoulia graduated from Vasilis Diamantopoulos' Drama School in 1994, while she has also attended acting cla ...

, Greek actress *

Giorgos Mazonakis , birth_date = , birth_place = Athens, Greece , death_date = , genre = Greek Folk-Pop, dance , years_active = 1992–present , label = Universal Music Greece (1993–2001)Heaven Music (2001–2016) Minos EMI (2017;present) , web ...

, Greek singer * Constantine Mitsotakis, former

Prime Minister of Greece The prime minister of the Hellenic Republic ( el, Πρωθυπουργός της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας, Prothypourgós tis Ellinikís Dimokratías), colloquially referred to as the prime minister of Greece ( el, Πρωθυ� ...

* Tony Mokbel, convicted Australian criminal * Fani Palli-Petralia, former Greek Minister of Tourism *

Giannis Ploutarhos Yannis Ploutarchos (Greek: Γιάννης Πλούταρχος, ; born 18 December 1970) is a Greek singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most popular laïko singers of his time, and has been characterized with having a genuine laïk ...

, Greek singer *

Alexandros Panagoulis Alexandros Panagoulis ( el, Αλέξανδρος Παναγούλης; 2 July 1939 – 1 May 1976) was a Greek politician and poet. He took an active role in the fight against the Regime of the Colonels (1967–1974) in Greece. He became fa ...

, Greek politician and poet *

Elena Paparizou Helena Paparizou (; , ; born 31 January 1962) is a Swedish-born Greek singer, songwriter and television personality. Born and raised in Sweden to Greek parents, she enrolled in various arts schools before launching a career in Sweden in 1999 as ...

, Pop singer and

winner *

Giannis Parios Yiannis Parios ( el, Γιάννης Πάριος) is a Greek singer, with a career spanning five decades. Biography Yiannis Parios was born Ioannis Varthakouris (Ιωάννης Βαρθακούρης) on the island of Paros. He made his firs ...

, Greek singer * Antonis Remos, Greek singer * Tolis Voskopoulos, Greek singer * Mikael Nilsson, retired football player from Sweden *

Peja Stojaković Predrag Stojaković ( sr-cyr, Предраг Стојаковић, ; born June 9, 1977), known by his nickname Peja (''Peđa'', Пеђа, ), is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player who was most recently the assistant gen ...

, retired NBA player from Serbia * Arseldi Simaj,wfc world champion

Historical population

Districts

Agios Nikolaos, Glyfada Agios Nikolaos is a subdivision of the municipality of Glyfada in south Athens in Attica, Greece. Together with the neighboring Glyfada's Kolimvitirio neighborhood and Golf neighborhood it is also one of the most expensive districts of Glyfada and ...

*Kolimvitirio *Eksoni *Evriali *Pirnari *Egli *Ano Glyfada * Terpsithea

Twin cities

Glyfada is twinned with the following cities: * Bayside, New South Wales, Australia * Niš, Serbia * Gżira, Malta *

Vidnoye, Moscow Oblast Vidnoye ( rus, Ви́дное, p=ˈvʲidnəɪ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Leninsky District, Moscow Oblast, Leninsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located south of Moscow city limi ...

, Russia

References

External links

Glyfada-Γλυφάδα
* https://web.archive.org/web/20100415210820/http://www.glyfadiotes.gr/
Geographical InformationInfo Pages – Glyfada
{{Authority control Municipalities of Attica Populated places in South Athens (regional unit) Shopping districts and streets in Greece