Spata () is a town east of downtown

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 ...

. 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-Loutsa) has an area of 55.042 km². It is part of the Athens metropolitan area.

Geography and economy

Spata is situated in the middle of the

Mesogeia The Mesogeia or Mesogaia (, "Midlands") is a geographical region of Attica in Greece. 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 ...

plain, east of Mount Hymettus and west of the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans and Anatolia, and covers an area of some . In the north, the Aegean is connected to the Marmara Sea, which in turn con ...

coast.

Athens International Airport Athens International Airport ''Eleftherios Venizelos'' , commonly initialised as AIA, is the largest international airport in Greece, serving the city of Athens and region of Attica. It began operation on 28 March 2001 (in time for the 2004 Su ...

("Eleftherios Venizelos") covers the eastern portion of Spata. It is located southeast of Pallini, southwest of Rafina, west of Artemida and about east south east of

city center. The town proper is made up of residential neighborhoods. Farmland, mostly vineyards and olive groves, lie around.

Retsina Retsina () is a Greek white (or rosé or very rarely red) resinated wine, which has been made for at least 2,000 years. Its unique flavor is said to have originated from the practice of sealing wine vessels, particularly amphorae, with Aleppo ...

wine was the traditional cash crop of the whole area, complemented with olives and olive oil, figs, almonds, pistachios, and wheat. Nowadays viticulture is dwindling as a mass occupation, albeit supplanted by the emergence of many modern wineries that mostly specialize in vinifying the local

Savatiano Savatiano (or Savvatiano) is a white Greek wine grape used primarily in the wine Retsina. It is one of Greece's most widely planted grape varieties and is known for its resistance to drought condition. It is mostly planted throughout central Greec ...

grape. The bulk of the grape and wine business is handled by the local co-operative. In 1995, the southern portion was committed to construction of the new Athens International Airport, which was completed in March 2001. The

Attica Zoological Park Attica Park, officially Attica Zoological Park (AZP), is a private zoo located in the suburb of Spata, approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of Athens, Greece. It is the only zoo in Greece. The zoo is home to more than 1,500 animals repr ...

, or "Attica Zoo", opened in May 2001 and is Athens' and Greece's largest zoo. Spata has five kindergartens, three elementary schools, two secondary schools, a police station, Post Office, several bank offices, and a junior football/soccer team, ''Aittitos'' (Invincible). The training facilities of AEK FC are also located there. The municipal unit of Spáta also incorporates various small exurbs: Agía Kyriakí, Neápoli, Ágios Ioánnis, Velanidiá, Christoúpolis, Foínikas, Étos Stéko, Ágios Nikólaos Boúra, and Ímeros Péfkos.

History

The area included the ancient Athenian

deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or (, plural: ''demoi'', δήμοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Classical Athens, Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside existed in the 6th century BC and earlier, bu ...

s of Erkhiá (Ερχιά), the birthplace of the historian and general

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...

, and Kýthēros (Κύθηρος); a Mycenean cemetery was excavated at the southern edge of town by Panagiotis Stamatakis in the 1870s, the exhibits being hosted in the

National Archaeological Museum of Athens The National Archaeological Museum () in Athens houses some of the most important artifacts from a variety of archaeological locations around Greece from prehistory to late antiquity. It is considered one of the greatest museums in the world and ...

. Evidence of small ancient settlements abound in the area, the most notable being the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

fortified settlement on Zágani hill. Several of these were excavated during works for the airport and are being exhibited in the main airport building. Since the

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

, Spata has been inhabited mainly by

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

. The town (then village) was re-populated by the medieval

Tosk Albanian Tosk ( sq-definite, toskërishtja) is the southern group of dialects of the Albanian language, spoken by the ethnographic group known as Tosks. The line of demarcation between Tosk and Gheg (the northern variety) is the Shkumbin River. Tosk is ...

clan of Spata around the 15th century, after they emigrated from

Epirus Epirus () is a Region#Geographical regions, geographical and historical region, historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay ...

. It was named after John Spata, who was despot of Arta in the 14th century.Jochalas, Titos P. (1971): Über die Einwanderung der Albaner in Griechenland: Eine zusammenfassene Betrachtung On the immigration of Albanians to Greece: A summary" München: Trofenik. p. 26 His name derives from

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

shpatë (def. and pl. shpata). The patron saints of the town are

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

and

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

, celebrated on July 29 at the Byzantine chapel of the same name, located near the eastern edge of the town. The feast is accompanied by the medieval custom of the distribution of the stifado, a beef-and-onions stew cooked overnight in cauldrons and distributed to the faithful outside the chapel after Mass.

Economy

Olympic Air Olympic Air S.A. () is a regional airline and a subsidiary of the Greece, Greek carrier Aegean Airlines. It was formed as part of the privatization of the former Greek national carrier Olympic Airlines, a company that carried the name Olympic A ...

has its head office in

in Spata. Goody's S.A., a Greek fast food company, is also headquartered at the airport.

Government and infrastructure

The

Air Accident Investigation and Aviation Safety Board National Aviation Investigation Agency and Railway Accidents and Transportation Safety ''(HARSIA Greek language, Greek:Εθνικός Οργανισμός Διερεύνησης Αεροπορικών και Σιδηροδρομικών Ατυχη ...

has an office at the airport.Contact Us
"

. Retrieved on 20 June 2011. "Address for Correspondence & Unit Address: AIR ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION AND AVIATION SAFETY BOARD Ex American Base Building 221, Helliniko Athens 167 01 GREECE" and "Board Address: AIR ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION AND AVIATION SAFETY BOARD Athens International Airport “El. Venizelos” Building 11, Office 1311 Spata 190 19 GREECE" �
Addresses in Greek
: "Διεύθυνση Αλληλογραφίας και Έδρα Μονάδας: ΕΠΙΤΡΟΠΗ ΔΙΕΡΕΥΝΗΣΗΣ ΑΤΥΧΗΜΑΤΩΝ & ΑΣΦΑΛΕΙΑΣ ΠΤΗΣΕΩΝ Πρώην Αμερικάνικη Βάση, Κτίριο 221, Ελληνικό, 167 01 ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΟ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ" and "Έδρα Επιτροπής: ΕΠΙΤΡΟΠΗ ΔΙΕΡΕΥΝΗΣΗΣ ΑΤΥΧΗΜΑΤΩΝ & ΑΣΦΑΛΕΙΑΣ ΠΤΗΣΕΩΝ Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Αθηνών, Κτίριο 11, Γραφείο 1311 190 19 ΣΠΑΤΑ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ" – Also "Address for Correspondence & investigation Unit Address" (Elliniko) and "Board office at Athens Airport" (Spata) – Greek: "Μονάδα Διερευνήσεων Στο Ελληνικό" and "Γραφεία Επιτροπής στο ΔΑΑ (Σπάτα)", respectively

Historical population

References

External links

* {{Spata-Artemida div Populated places in East Attica Spata-Artemida Arvanite settlements