Lavrio
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Lavrio municipality Δήμος Λαυρεωτικής (Λαύριο) |
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| Basic data | |||
| State : |
 Greece
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| Region : | Attica | ||
| Regional District : | Eaststatica | ||
| Geographic coordinates : | 37 ° 43 ' N , 24 ° 4' E | ||
| Area : | 176.87 km² | ||
| Residents : | 25,102 (2011) | ||
| Population density : | 141.9 inhabitants / km² | ||
| Post Code: | 19500 | ||
| Prefix: | (+30) 22920 | ||
| Seat: | Lavrio | ||
| LAU-1 code no .: | 4905 | ||
| Districts : | 3 municipal districts | ||
| Local self-government : |
2 city districts 1 local community |
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| Location in the Attica region | |||
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Lavrio ( modern Greek Λαύριο , ancient Greek Λαύριον Laurion , officially Dimos Lavreotikis Δήμος Λαυρεωτικής ) is a municipality in Attica and, as a small town of the same name, the seat of this municipality. This is located between the ancient places Thorikos and Sounion directly on the coast of the Aegean Sea. In ancient times, this was where the silver mines were located , which largely contributed to the wealth of the city of Athens .
The current community was formed in 2010 by incorporating the neighboring communities of Agios Konstandinos and Keratea . Today the community tries to participate in the general tourist development of Attica.
The town of Lavrio grew noticeably from the end of the 19th century with the onset of industrialization of the region; mining primarily, the installation of a power station and other industrial facilities that offered many jobs and attracted workers from all over Greece.
After the city emigrated and fell into disrepair in the second half of the 20th century, immigration began again in recent years. In general, Lavrion is a city characterized by residents from all regions of Greece. Lavrion is the only city in Greece that has no church on the main square (Platia) in the center of the city, because the respective immigrant groups could not agree on any style.
history
In ancient times, Laurion or Laureion referred to the entire mountainous region in southeastern Attica, and there has never been a demos of this name. According to grave finds, the area was already settled in the Paleolithic . In Thorikos mining began as early as the third millennium. As early as the Mycenaean epoch , silver was exported from here to Crete , Santorini and Egypt . In the 6th century BC The systematic exploitation of natural resources began under Peisistratos . In the 5th and 4th centuries BC Private entrepreneurs were active as tenants of the state, employing around 20,000 slaves, mostly of non-Greek origin. One of the best-known major entrepreneurs in this area was the Athenian general Nikias , who commissioned his Thracian slave Sosias to supervise over 1000 mining slaves . In the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC Production decreased. There was also a revolt among the slaves working there (104-100 BC), and the nearby Cape Sounion was also occupied. In the 2nd century AD, Pausanias speaks of this area as a place "where the Athenians once had silver mines".
In 1864 mining was resumed by a French company until the 1950s. After the French company closed, other companies withdrew from the region, whereupon a recession with the deterioration of the hitherto impressive infrastructure (Lavrion was connected to Greece's first railway line) and massive poverty set in in the region.
It was not until 1994 that the first tentative new ventures were started here, after the touristic value of the area had been recognized. So received z. B. Greece's first privately operated yacht marina (Olympic Marine) received its operating license in Lavrion. For the 2004 Olympic Games, enormous efforts were made to adapt Lavrion to the relatively wealthy neighboring communities. Even today (-2008) work is being carried out tirelessly day and night on the port expansion, road connection and sewerage system, which should be completed in 2004. Due to Lavrion's proximity to the new Athens airport and its advantageous location as a starting point for trips to the Greek islands, Lavrion is becoming increasingly attractive for ferry connections to relieve the port of Piraeus and as a yacht base.
To technology
The ore was partly mined in open-cast mining and partly underground. The main problem was the water that was needed to process the ore. The raw ore was first sorted by hand, then crushed in mortars and ground in mills. Then it got into washing facilities. The grist was placed on a slightly inclined washstand on which water flowed from nozzles. The wastewater was collected again and led into a circular collecting basin (clearly visible in the upper figure), on which the waste was deposited on the floor and the remaining water was flushed over the table again. The heavy ore fraction that remained on the table was smelted in a furnace after being cleaned again. This happened in two phases:
- 2nd phase: cupelling : separation of lead and silver (at about 1100 °). The oxidized lead was deposited on the wall of the crucible, while the silver remained as sediment.
Laurion's silver was 986/1000 pure . Four tons of the heavy fraction were processed per kiln and day, for which one ton of charcoal was needed. In this area, which was once “wooded”, practically everything was cut down.
Excavations
In the area of the municipality, at Cape Sounion, there is the ruin of a Poseidon temple, which is one of the most famous sights in Greece. The mining is documented by remains scattered in the area at Argileza and Thorikos ; especially of washing systems, cisterns and canals. A map in the Lavrion Mining Museum makes orientation easier.
literature
- August Boeckh: About the Laurion silver mines . Berlin 1818.
- Erwin Freund: Laurion . In: Siegfried Lauffer (Ed.): Greece. Lexicon of Historic Places . Verlag CH Beck, Munich 1989, p. 372f.
- Hansjörg Kalcyk: The silver mining of Laureion in Attica. Antike Welt 14 (1983), 3, p. 12ff.
- Siegfried Lauffer: The mining slaves of Laureion . Franz Steiner Verlag, 2nd edition Stuttgart 1979.
- Christopher Mee & Antony Spawforth: Greece. To Oxford Archaeological Guide . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001, pp. 104-110.
Web links
- Laurion Archaeological Museum
- Laurion Mineralogical Museum
- Pictures from the excavations
- Article Lavrion (Laurion) - The mineral Eldorado in the mineral atlas
- Holger Lausch: The mining of Laurion, Greece - 2500 years of mining in Greece. Travel report. (PDF, 37 MB)
- A MoneyMuseum podcast on the importance of Laurion in Greek coinage
Individual evidence
- ↑ Results of the 2011 census at the National Statistical Service of Greece (ΕΛ.ΣΤΑΤ) ( Memento from June 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Excel document, 2.6 MB)