Nikea (Attica)
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Nikea parish Δημοτική Ενότητα Νίκαιας (Νίκαια) |
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| Basic data | |||
| State : |
 Greece
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| Region : |
Attica
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| Regional District : | Piraeus | ||
| Municipality : | Nikea-Agios Ioannis Rendis | ||
| Geographic coordinates : | 37 ° 58 ' N , 23 ° 39' E | ||
| Height above d. M .: | 40 m (average) |
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| Area : | 6.649 km² | ||
| Residents : | 89,380 (2011) | ||
| Population density : | 13,442.6 inhabitants / km² | ||
| Code No .: | 510401 | ||
| Structure: |
1 municipality |
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| Located in Nikea-Agios Ioannis Rendis municipality and Piraeus regional unit | |||
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Nikea ( Greek Νίκαια ( f. Sg. ), Until 1940 Kokkinia in Greek Κοκκινιά ) is a Greek city in Attica in the regional district of Piraeus .
Still under the name Nea Kokkinia (Νέα Κοκκινιά), the place was spun off from Piraeus in 1934 and recognized as a municipality (dimos) , the name was changed in 1940. Since the merger with the neighboring municipality of Agios Ioannis Rendis on January 1, 2011, Nikea has formed a municipality of the municipality Nikea-Agios Ioannis Rendis , which also houses the administrative center of the municipality.
geography
Nikea is located 4 km north of Piraeus between Keratsini and Korydallos at the foot of Mount Egaleo .
It is a western suburb of Athens and Piraeus , with which it has grown together in terms of settlement.
history
Until the 20th century, the hilly area was mainly characterized by agriculture. After the Asia Minor catastrophe in 1922, the area at the foot of the Egaleo Mountains was developed and developed as a suburban settlement for the refugees streaming into the greater Athens area. Nikea was considered the second largest refugee city in Greece.
Until 1940 the place was called Kokkinia , supposedly because it was a center of the communists (after the Greek word kokkinos = red). In fact, the name is likely to go back to the fields strewn with poppies that existed before the building was built.
The raid on August 17, 1944
On Thursday, August 17, 1944, a war crime committed by the German occupation forces occurred in Nikea, which is still commonly known in Greece today as the Blocco (raid) of Kokkinia ( Greek Μπλόκο της Κοκκινιάς ). All the men in a district that was cordoned off by thousands of German soldiers, supported by Greek collaborators, had to kneel in Osias Xenis Square; Over 100 men who had been reported by informers were placed against the wall of a small factory and shot immediately.
7,000 people were arrested and taken to the Chaidari concentration camp, 1,200 of them were deported to Germany in freight trains after a few days, where they were used as forced laborers. Some of them were brought to Biblis to build a military airfield there.
Cityscape
An industrial area was created in the southwest of Nikea; an area previously used for mining was converted into a park in the 1960s. This is where the Olympic Hall was built , which was the venue for weightlifting competitions at the 2004 Olympic Games .
The city is characterized by two large boulevards, Grigori Lambraki Street and Petrou Ralli Street.
Sights include the Klimakia Museum, the Platon Sports Center and the Proodeftiki Stadium. Nikea has two hospitals and a number of elementary and high schools. It is the hometown of the volleyball team Nikaia Piraeus and the soccer team of the second division club Ionikos Nikea .
sons and daughters of the town
- Emilianos (1934–2019), abbot of the Athos monastery Simonos Petras and founder of several monasteries
- Dimitris Melissanidis (* 1951), entrepreneur, shipowner and sports official
- Giorgos Mazonakis (* 1972), singer
- Nikos Ikonomou (* 1973), basketball player and coach
- Alexis Spyridonidis (* 1995), basketball player
Individual evidence
- ↑ Results of the 2011 census at the National Statistical Service of Greece (ΕΣΥΕ) ( Memento from June 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Excel document, 2.6 MB)
- ↑ Adonis Flountzis: Chaidari, Athens 1977, pp. 537 ff. And p. 749.
- ↑ Article on www.greekholocausts.gr (Greek) ( Memento of the original from August 26, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
