Drapetsona ( el, Δραπετσώνα) is a suburb and a former municipality in the southwestern part of the Pireaus regional unit in the

Athens Urban Area 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 ...

. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality

Keratsini-Drapetsona Keratsini-Drapetsona ( el, Κερατσίνι-Δραπετσώνα) is a municipality in the Piraeus regional unit, Attica, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town of Keratsini. The municipality has an area of . The municipality was form ...

, of which it is a municipal unit.

Geography

Drapetsona is situated on the north side of the inlet to the

Port of Piraeus The Port of Piraeus ( el, Λιμάνι του Πειραιά) is the chief sea port of Athens, Greece, located on the Saronic Gulf on the western coasts of the Aegean Sea, the largest port in Greece and List of busiest ports in Europe, one of the ...

. The northwestern part of the port is on the territory of Drapetsona. Drapetsona lies 2 km west 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 ...

, and 10 km southwest 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 ...

city centre. The municipal unit has an area of 1.725 km². Its built-up area is continuous with those of neighbouring cities of

and

Keratsini Keratsini ( el, Κερατσίνι) is a suburb in the western part of the Piraeus regional unit, part of the Athens Urban Area. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Keratsini-Drapetsona, of which it is the seat a ...

History

In 1805 the first church, Saint Dionysios was built. In the 1830s Drapetsona was constituted of people who moved from Greek islands and settled near Saint Dionysios church in the area called Vourla. In 1834 a part of the region was given to Piraeus in order to become a cemetery under the term of churches’ reconstruction. Also a great number of

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

s was established in 1873 to the west of Saint Dionysios. After the 1922

Asia Minor Catastrophe Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

there was a notable population increase. Drapetsona was part of the municipality of Piraeus until 1950, when it became a separate community. It was elevated to municipality status in 1951. Since 19th century Drapetsona has become an important part of the Piraeus industrial area. The first major port facility was the Vasileiadis Shipyard, founded in 1898. Subsequently, other industries were established: a fertilizer factory, a plaster factory, a cement factory, a tannery and more recently installations of petroleum companies (

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

Mobil Mobil is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil. The brand was formerly owned and operated by an oil and gas corporation of the same name, which itself merged with Exxon to form ExxonMobil in 1999. ...

, BP).

There are plans to redevelop a section of the Drapetsona seafront on 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 ...

, the location of the former industrial complex, including the now abandoned

Kanellopoulos Institute of Chemistry and Agriculture The Kanellopoulos Institute of Chemistry and Agriculture (, ) is a former research institute in Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the ...

. The plans call for utilisation of the area for tourism, business and water sports, including a maritime business centre, a convention centre, a technology museum and two marinas. "Drapetsona" is also the subject of a popular

rebetiko Rebetiko ( el, ρεμπέτικο, ), plural rebetika ( ), occasionally transliterated as rembetiko or rebetico, is a term used today to designate originally disparate kinds of urban Greek music which have come to be grouped together since the s ...

song performed by folk singer

Grigoris Bithikotsis Grigoris Bithikotsis (Greek Γρηγόρης Μπιθικώτσης, ; December 11, 1922 – April 7, 2005) was a Greek folk singer/songwriter with a career spanning five decades. He is considered one of the most important figures in Greek popular ...

in 1961 (Politia Vol.1).
Δραπετσώνα 1960: Η μάχη της παράγκας και η ιστορία ενός τραγουδιού
'' Pandiera.gr. Δεκ 13, 2016. Retrieved: 28 June 2018.

Historical population

References

External links

Municipality of DrapetsonaTEE Drapetsonas
(in Greek)
National Statistical Service of Greece
{{Keratsini-Drapetsona div Populated places in Piraeus (regional unit)