Ilisia ( el, Ιλίσια ) is a neighborhood 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 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 ...

, named after the river

Ilisos The Ilisos or Ilisus ( el, Ιλισός, ) is a river in Athens, Greece. Originally a tributary of the Kifisos, it has been rechanneled to the sea. It is now largely channeled underground, though as of June 2019 there are plans to unearth the ...

. A portion of the neighborhood, Ano Ilisia (Upper Ilisia), is in

Zografou Zografou ( el, Ζωγράφου) is a suburb of approximately 71,000 in the eastern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. It was named after the Greek politician Ioannis Zografos. To the east of Zografou lies mount Hymettus. The area, being ...

and is near the Theology, Philosophy and Scientific faculties of the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

. The lower (western) part is also known as the "Hilton" neighborhood due to the proximity of the

Hilton Athens The Hilton Athens was a hotel in Athens, Greece. Opened in 1963, it closed for renovations in January 2022 and will reopen in 2024. It is on Vassilissis Sofias Avenue, within the Hilton Area, adjacent to the Kolonaki and Pangrati neighbourhoods ...

hotel. Ilisia is named after the

river, which rises near Kaisariani on the slopes 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) ...

and which, although Athens' historic river, is barely noticeable except in heavy rain. The name originally used for the villa of

Sophie de Marbois-Lebrun, Duchess of Plaisance Sophie de Marbois-Lebrun, Duchess of Plaisance (Greek: Δούκισσα της Πλακεντίας) (1785–1854) was a French noblewoman, known as an important figure in Greek high society the first decades after Greek independence. She was b ...

(Villa Ilisia), that was built near Ilisos river in 1848. Today this building hosts the

Byzantine Museum The Byzantine and Christian Museum ( el, Βυζαντινό και Χριστιανικό Μουσείο, links=no) is situated at Vassilissis Sofias Avenue in Athens, Greece. It was founded in 1914, and houses more than 25,000 exhibits with rare ...

Sports

The sport club of Ilisia is

Ilisiakos Ilisiakos Football Club ( el, Ηλυσιακός A.O.) is an Athens-based football club that was founded in 1927 by Michalis Xydis, Lambropoulos, Evgenopoulos, Nikolaos Plessas, ''et al.''. They played in Delta Ethiniki until 2003. Ilisiakos spent ...

, founded in 1927, with football team ( Ilisiakos F.C.) and basketball team Ilisiakos BC. Although the name ''Ilisiakos'' seems to mean "team of Ilisia", the spelling, with Greek letter ''H'' (Ηλυσιακός) instead of ''I'' (Ιλισιακός), refers to Elysium (Ἠλύσιον πεδίον). The rationale for this is that the club aims to represent a wider area from Ilisia.

Notable people

* Nikko Patrelakis, musician

References

Neighbourhoods in Athens {{Athens-geo-stub

Sports

Notable people

See also

References