The Paralia ( el, Παραλία, 3=the sea-side/coast) was a geographical and administrative region (''
trittys
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 ...
'') of
ancient Attica.
The term designated the coasts of Attica, but was also generally used for the entire portion of Attica east of
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) ...
.
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 made to territory from comprise three zones (''trittyes''), 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 city of Athens), interior (''
mesogeia
The Mesogeia or Mesogaia ( el, τα Μεσόγεια, η Μεσόγαια/Μεσογαία, "Midlands") is a geographical region of Attica in Greece.
History
The term designates since antiquity the inland portion of the Attic peninsula. The term a ...
'') and coastal (''paralia'').
In the
Classical period, the ''paralia'' comprised about 40 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 ...
'').
References
Geography of ancient Attica
{{AncientAttica-geo-stub