Η Attica is a historical region of Greece that includes city ​​of Athens, which is also the capital of Greece, and city ​​of Piraeus.

Ancient history

In ancient times, the Athenians were proud of the fact that they were "indigenous", which means that they were the first inhabitants of the area and had not moved to Attica from another place. According to the prevailing view, during the so-called "Dark Ages" in Greece, Attica had become the refuge of the Ionians, who belonged to a tribe from the northern Peloponnese. The Ionians had been forced to emigrate from their homeland because of the Achaeans, who were forced to move from their area due to the descent of the Dorians. The Ionians had integrated into the ancient Attics, who, later, considered that they were also part of the Ionian tribe and spoke the Ionian dialect. Many Ionians later left Attica to colonize the coast of Asia Minor and create the so-called Ionian Dodecapolis.

During the Mycenaean period, the Attics lived in autonomous rural societies. The main places where prehistoric relics were found are Marathon, Rafina, Nea Makri, Vravrona, Thorikos, Agios Kosmas, Elefsina, Menidi, Markopoulo, Sparta, Afidnes and Athens. All these settlements flourished during the Mycenaean period. According to tradition, Attica included twelve small communities (municipalities) during the reign of Kekropas, the mythical king of ancient Athens, who were later incorporated into an Athenian state during the reign of Theseus, also the mythical king of ancient Athens. . Modern historians consider it possible that these communities were gradually integrated into an Athenian state, during the 8th and 7th centuries BC.

Until the 6th century BC, aristocratic families lived independently in the suburbs. Only after the tyranny of Peisistratos and the reforms implemented by Cleisthenes did the local communities lose their independence and submit to the central government in Athens. As a result of these reforms, Attica was divided into about a hundred municipalities, as well as into three major sectors: the city (city), which included the areas of the center of Athens, Ymittos, Egaleo and the foothills of Parnitha, the coast (beach), which included the area between Elefsina and Sounio and the area around the city (interior - Mediterranean), inhabited by people living north of Parnitha, Penteliko and the area east of Mount Hymettus. Each of the ten tribes was divided into three "triads", the bourgeois, the sailors and the peasants, and through them participated in the three major sectors, the city, the coast and the Mediterranean.

Fortresses

During the classical period, Athens was fortified to the north by the fortress of Eleftheron, which is now well preserved. Other fortresses were of Oinoi, Dhekelia and Afidnes. To protect the mines of Lavrio, on the coast, Athens was fortified by a wall in Ramnounta, Thoriko, Sounio, Anavyssos, Piraeus and Elefsina.

Places of worship

Even though archeological ruins are found in almost the entire region of Attica, the most important are those found in Elefsina. The worship of the goddess Demeter and her daughter, starting from the Mycenaean period, continued until the last years of antiquity.

Many other types of worship can be attributed to prehistory. For example, the worship of Pan and Nymphs was common in many areas of Attica, such as Marathon, Parnitha and Hymettus. The god of wine, Dionysus, was worshiped mainly in the region of Ikaria. Iphigenia and Artemis were worshiped in Vravrona, Artemis in Rafina, Athena in Sounio, Aphrodite on the Holy Road, and Apollo in Daphne.

The Halkia festival was celebrated every autumn in Attica. The festival honored the gods Hephaestus and Athena Ergani.

Medieval period

After the period of antiquity, Attica came under Roman, Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman rule. During the Byzantine period, Athens was occupied by the Goths under the orders of Alaric, in 396 AD. The population of Attica decreased compared to the neighboring region of Boeotia.

The places of historical dates that are of interest are the 11th and 12th century, when Attica was under the rule of the Franks. The large monastery of Daphne, built during the period of Justinian I, is an isolated case that does not mean extensive development of Attica, during the Byzantine period. On the other hand, the buildings built during the 11th and 12th centuries show a greater development that continued during the Frankish rule.

During the Turkish occupation, Athens acquired some rights. However, this did not happen for the villages of Attica. Large areas were occupied by the Turks, who terrorized the population with the help of slaughterers. The monasteries of Attica played a decisive role in the preservation of the Greek element in the villages.

Despite the conquests, Attica managed to maintain its traditions. This fact is proved by the preservation of ancient place names such as Oropos, Dionysus, Eleusis, and Marathon. During the Greek Revolution, the peasants of Attica were the first to revolt (April 1821), and occupied Athens, the Acropolis, which was handed over to the Greeks in June 1822.

After 1829

Attica, since 1829, belonged to the independent Greek state. From 1834, Athens was re-established and became the new capital of Greece (the first was Nafplio of Argolis), and people from other parts of Greece gradually began to settle in Attica. The most dramatic increase came with Greek refugees from Asia Minor, following population exchanges between Greece and Turkey under the Treaty of Lausanne. Today, a large part of Attica is occupied by urban Athens. The modern Greek region of Attica includes classical Attica as well as the islands of the Saronic Gulf, a small part of the Peloponnese around Troizina, and the Ionian island of Kythira.

(source: Wikipedia, https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Αττική)

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