Megara

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Megara municipality
Δήμος Μεγαρέων (Μέγαρα)
Megara (Greece)
Bluedot.svg
Basic data
State : GreeceGreece Greece
Region : Attica
Regional District : West Attica
Geographic coordinates : 38 ° 0 ′  N , 23 ° 21 ′  E Coordinates: 38 ° 0 ′  N , 23 ° 21 ′  E
Area : 330.33 km²
Residents : 36,924 (2011)
Population density : 111.8 inhabitants / km²
Post Code: 19100
Prefix: (+30) 22960
Community logo:
Community logo of Megara Municipality
Seat: Megara
LAU-1 code no .: 5004
Districts : 2 parishes
Local self-government : f122 boroughs
f12
Website: www.megara.org
Location in the Attica region
File: 2011 Dimos Megareon.png
f9 f8

Megara ( Greek Μέγαρα ( n. Pl. )) Is one of the oldest cities in Greece . The port city on the Saronic Gulf is located in the Attica region - a good 30 kilometers west of the state capital Athens on the 20 kilometer wide isthmus that connects central Greece with the Peloponnese . In ancient times it was the capital of the Dorian- populated area of Megaris . Today Megara is on the highway from Athens to Corinth . During the administrative reform in 2010 , the previously independent small community Nea Peramos Νέα Πέραμος (8293 inhabitants) was united with Megara.

history

Megara was until about 660 BC. BC as a sea power at the height of its history. Because of its population surplus, the city was instrumental in founding large Greek colonies in the Archaic period . Megara Hyblaia , Astakos , Herakleia on the Black Sea and Chalcedon on the Bosporus were among their foundations . However, after fighting with Athens and Corinth , the city lost many of its territories and with it its importance. These territorial losses led to internal power struggles and the replacement of aristocratic rule by an oligarchy .

Megara sought connection to the Peloponnesian League , but left it in 461 and turned to Athens. After a devastating war between Athens and Corinth (459–458) during which Megara was besieged, Athens had to evacuate the city in 451. Megara then rejoined the Peloponnesian League in 446. When Athens imposed a trade ban on Megara in 432, thereby excluding her from the markets of the Aegean Sea, she turned to her ally Sparta and thus contributed to the fact that the two power blocs got into the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC).

During this war, the Athenian Nicias managed to occupy the island of Minoa in 427 . Soon thereafter, a democratic uprising took place in Megara, which the general Demosthenes supported. Although this survey did not lead to a change to the Athenian camp, it did result in the occupation of the port of Nisaia by Athens. The battle for Megara then persisted in a stalemate, which permanently damaged the city.

Shortly after the end of the Peloponnesian War, Megara 394 rose against the "oppressive Spartan supremacy" and became an independent polis with a democratic constitution. The polis experienced a second heyday until the 330s. In 338 the city had to join the Corinthian League , which the Macedonian ruler Philip II concluded with the Hellenes. In the time of the Diadochi , Megara came under the rule of Ptolemy I in 308. Just a year later it was captured and sacked by Demetrios Poliorketes . This led to the final decline of the city. In 230 the city, which had been under Macedonian rule for a short time, joined the Achaean League .

146 Megara was occupied by the Romans. In the Roman civil war, the city took the side of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus and therefore suffered the retaliatory measures of Gaius Julius Caesar , who stormed it through the legate Calenus. During the Roman Empire, Megara was a modest country town.

From the 4th to the 6th century AD it was a bishopric. With the establishment of the Latin Empire in 1204, Megara fell to Boniface of Montferrat . In 1311 the city was occupied by Catalans, who ceded it to Venice in 1371 . The Venetians had won a victory over the Ottoman fleet not far from the city in 1364 and were predominant in this area for a few decades. As early as 1374, the city was sold to the Florentine Nerio I. Acciaiuoli . It remained in the possession of his descendants until it was conquered by the Turks in 1456. The city was only liberated in the Greek struggle for freedom against the Ottoman Empire and was one of the centers of this struggle in 1832.

Excavations

The ancient city had two acropoles , Karia and Alkathoos, where the remains of the Temple of Athena were found. Of all the remains of the old settlement, only the Theagenes well house has been preserved. It is in the area of ​​the agora . You can also see traces of a city wall and an aqueduct.

Mythical kings of Megara

Nisos was killed in the War of Minos . After him either Minos ruled himself or:

From then on, Megara was ruled by elected officials.

Former colonies

Personalities

Facilities of today's Megara

  • Medium wave radio transmitter with a 180 meter high transmission mast, active on 666 kHz and 981 kHz

Megara Airfield

The airfield Megara ( , ICAO : LGMG ) is located near the village of Pachi, 2 kilometers from Megara and 60 km from the center of Athens away. The two parallel asphalt runways (orientation: 08/26) are 1,205 m long and 38 m wide. The airfield is 4 m (12 ft) above sea level . World icon

literature

  • The Oxford Classical Dictionary. 2 ed., Oxford 1970.
  • Ronald P. Legon: Megara. The Political History of a Greek City-State to 336 BC Cornell University Press, Ithaca / London 1981.
  • Ernst Langlotz : Greece. Second edition. Stollfuss, Bonn 1962.
  • Hans-Joachim Gehrke : Beyond Athens and Sparta. Beck, Munich 1986.
  • Philip J. Smith: The Archeology and Epigraphy of Hellenistic and Roman Megaris, Greece. John and Erica Hedges Ltd., Oxford 2008.

Web links

Commons : Megara  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 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)
  2. ↑ Megara Airport. In: airportguide.com. Retrieved February 15, 2020 .