The Mesogeia or Mesogaia ( el, τα Μεσόγεια, η Μεσόγαια/Μεσογαία, "Midlands") is a geographical region of

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 S ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

History

The term designates since antiquity the inland portion of the Attic peninsula. The term acquired a technical meaning with the reforms of Cleisthenes in , when each of the ten

Attic tribes ''Phyle'' ( gr, φυλή, phulē, "tribe, clan"; pl. ''phylai'', φυλαί; derived from ancient Greek φύεσθαι "to descend, to originate") is an ancient Greek term for tribe or clan. Members of the same ''phyle'' were known as ''symphylet ...

was in territory composed of three zones (''

trittyes The ''trittyes'' (; grc, τριττύες ''trittúes''), singular ''trittys'' (; τριττύς ''trittús'') were part of the organizational structure the divided the population in ancient Attica, and is commonly thought to have been establish ...

''), urban (''

asty Asty ( gr, ἄστυ; ) is an ancient Greek word denoting the physical space of a city or town, especially as opposed to the political concept of a '' polis'', which encompassed the entire territory and citizen body of a city-state. In Classic ...

'', the main city of Athens), interior (''mesogeia'') and coastal ('' paralia''). In the Classical period, the ''mesogeia'' comprised about 47 settlements (''

demoi 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 ...

''). In modern usage, the term refers to the central portion of

East Attica East Attica ( el, Ανατολική Αττική) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Attica. The regional unit covers the eastern part of the urban agglomeration of Athens, and also the rural area to its east. Adm ...

, separated from the Athens basin by

Mount Hymettus Hymettus (), also Hymettos (; el, Υμηττός, translit=Ymittós, pronounced ), is a mountain range in the Athens area of Attica, East Central Greece. It is also colloquially known as ''Trellós'' (crazy) or ''Trellóvouno'' (crazy mountain) ...

, and delineated to the north by Mount Penteli and to the south by the mountains of south Attica (Merenta, ,

Laureotic Olympus Laureotic Olympus (named for the region of Laurium, also Όλυμπος Αττικής "Attic Olympus", Σκόρδι) is a hill in Attica, just north of Anavyssos, in Saronikos municipality, East Attica, Greece. At a height of 487 m is on ...

). To the east the Mesogeia reaches the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...

at the Petalioi Gulf, but is separated from the actual coastline by a line of low hills. In the late

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, the area was the site of Albanian (

Arvanite Arvanites (; Arvanitika: , or , ; Greek: , ) are a bilingual population group in Greece of Albanian origin. They traditionally speak Arvanitika, an Albanian language variety, along with Greek. Their ancestors were first recorded as settler ...

) settlement, as can be seen from toponyms such as

Spata Spata ( el, Σπάτα), is a town east of downtown Athens, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Spata-Artemida, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The municipal unit (officially named Spata-L ...

Liopesi Paiania (or ''Paeanea'' or ''Peania'' el, Παιανία, , before 1915: Λιόπεσι - ''Liopesi'', ; Arvanitika: Λοπε̱σ romanized: Lopës) is a town and a municipality in East Attica, Greece. It is an eastern suburb of Athens, located e ...

. Before the 2011

Kallikratis reform The Kallikratis Programme ( el, Πρόγραμμα Καλλικράτης, Prógramma Kallikrátis) is the common name of Greek law 3852/2010 of 2010, a major administrative reform in Greece. It brought about the second major reform of the count ...

, the area comprised the municipalities of

Gerakas Gerakas ( el, Γέρακας) is a suburb of Athens and a former municipality in East Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Pallini, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. In antiquity Gera ...

Glyka Nera Glyka Nera (Greek: Γλυκά Νερά, , meaning "sweet waters", named after an underground water source) is a suburb in the northeastern part of Athens Metropolitan Area. Since the 2011 local government reform it belongs to the East Attica reg ...

, Anthousa,

Pallini Pallini ( el, Παλλήνη) is a suburban town in Greater Athens Area and a municipality in East Attica, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Gerakas. It is the seat of administration of the East Attica regional unit. Geography ...

Paiania Paiania (or ''Paeanea'' or ''Peania'' el, Παιανία, , before 1915: Λιόπεσι - ''Liopesi'', ; Arvanitika: Λοπε̱σ romanized: Lopës) is a town and a municipality in East Attica, Greece. It is an eastern suburb of Athens, located ...

Pikermi Pikermi ( el, Πικέρμι) is a suburb of Athens and a former community of East Attica regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Rafina-Pikermi, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal ...

, Spata, Artemida, Rafina,

Markopoulo Mesogaias Markopoulo Mesogaias ( el, Μαρκόπουλο Μεσογαίας) is a suburban town and a municipality in East Attica, Greece. The municipality has an area of . Geography The municipality Markopoulo Mesogaias is situated in the Mesogaia plai ...

Keratea Keratea ( el, Κερατέα) is a town in East Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lavreotiki, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 129.864 km2. It is part of ...

Koropi Koropi ( el, Κορωπί, ) is a suburban town in East Attica, Greece. It is the seat of the municipality Kropia. It has been home to the new training facilities of Panathinaikos football club since the summer of 2013. Geography Koropi is sit ...

Kalyvia Thorikou Kalyvia Thorikou ( el, Καλύβια Θορικού) is a town and a former municipality in East Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Saronikos, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The m ...

Vari Vari ( el, Βάρη) is a southern suburb of Athens and former municipality in East Attica, Greece along the Athens coast. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni, of which it is a municipal u ...

, Kouvaras, and

Voula Voula ( el, Βούλα) is a southern suburb of Athens along the Athens coast and former municipality in East Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni, of which it is the seat a ...

. Its main settlement is Spata, and its main harbour is Rafina. The

Athens International Airport Athens International Airport ''Eleftherios Venizelos'' ( el, Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Αθηνών «Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος», ''Diethnís Aeroliménas Athinón "Elefthérios Venizélos"''), commonly initialised as ...

is also located near Spata.

Maps

File:CarteAttiqueApresClisthene.jpg, The division of Attica into urban (pink), inland (green), and coastal (blue) zones by Cleisthenes File:Mesogia Morphological Marking b.jpg, The modern extent of the Mesogeia area

References

Sources

* Ancient Athens Geography of ancient Attica Geography of East Attica {{AncientAttica-geo-stub

History

Maps

See also

References

Sources