Ilisia (, ) is a
neighborhood
A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...
of
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
,
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
, named after the river
Ilisos. A portion of the neighborhood, Ano Ilisia (Upper Ilisia), is in
Zografou and is near the Theology, Philosophy and Scientific faculties of the
University of Athens. The lower (western) part is also known as the "Hilton" neighborhood due to the proximity of the
Hilton Athens hotel.
Ilisia is named after the
Ilisos river, which rises near
Kaisariani on the slopes of Mount
Hymettus 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 (Villa Ilisia), that was built near Ilisos river in 1848. Today this building hosts the
Byzantine Museum.
Sports
The sport club of Ilisia is
Ilisiakos, 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
Elysium (), otherwise known as the Elysian Fields (, ''Ēlýsion pedíon''), Elysian Plains or Elysian Realm, is a conception of the afterlife that developed over time and was maintained by some Greek religious and philosophical sects and cult ...
(Ἠλύσιον πεδίον). The rationale for this is that the club aims to represent a wider area from Ilisia.
Notable people
*
Nikko Patrelakis, musician
See also
*
Byzantine & Christian Museum
References
Neighbourhoods in Athens
{{Athens-geo-stub