GLYFADA

'Glyfada' (Greek: Γλυφάδα) is an elegant and stylish suburb of Athens, situated in the southern parts of the Athens Metropolitan Area. The City of Glyfada stretches out from the foot of Hymettus mountain and reaches out to embrace the Saronic Gulf. It is the largest of the Athens' southern suburbs, divided into Kato Glyfada, located by the sea, and Ano Glyfada, the area next to Mount Hymettus. The area is known in greece for its upmarket cafe and night life, expensive restaurants, prestigious shops and summer clubs; and its popularity with celebrities, singers, actors, athletes and journalists.

Contents

History

Geography

Transportation

Municpality

Famous residents and people

People

Historical population

Subdivisions

Twin cities

See also

External links

History

In ancient times, the area was a deme known as Aixone (Αιξώνη). Nowadays, Glyfada is a city packed with famous nightclubs, luxurious restaurants and expensive malls. It is arguably one of the most "Americanized" of Athenian municipalities, since an American airbase was located nearby in the 1980s. The base's population helped to shape Glyfada's character in terms of the types of restaurants and shopping centers there, leading to a unique blend of Greek and American atmosphere and cuisine. Although the base is now gone and the school relocated, Glyfada still retains much of its American flavor while continuing to offer its distinctly Greek cuisine, entertainment and nightlife.
Glyfada was established as the heart of Athens' southern suburbs, because of its prime waterfront location, rich commercial center, modern business district and developed transportation network. It is known as part of the Attican Riviera and today boasts some of Europe's most marvelous mansions, beautiful gardens and extensive beachfront property with a modern marina.
The town hall is located at the center of the municipality. Nearby, Glyfada’s shopping district has one of the most vibrant and diversified commercial centres of all the Athenian neighbourhoods. It combines a rich and diverse store selection, including designer stores. It's proximity to many beaches and the concentrated seaside club scene increases the number of visitors during the summer time. Glyfada’s shopping district runs through Posidonos Avenue and Pandora, Cyprus, Labraki and Metaksa streets. Major business offices and shopping parks are available throughout the Avenues Voyliagmenis, Goynari and Gennimata, where visitors can combine shopping with other day-to-day other activities.

Geography

Glyfada Marina includes marine space and coastal land area totaling 3 kilometers, and a concrete land mass between basins A and B with a length of roughly 250 meters, between basins B and G with a length of roughly 150 meters, between basins G and D with a length of roughly 300 meters, and between basin D until the end of the basin of roughly 350 meters, with all harbor facilities and buildings found within this space.
Northwest is the forested wooded golf course of Athens, the Glyfada Golf Club, located south of the old Airport of Athens. To the east and northeast is an urban sprawl which spreads over the southwest shoulder of Mt. Hymettus and its rocky landscape. The roads are lined and curved to nearly NW at a 90 degree angle. It also has a marina and a popular beach. Its beaches are located in the western part of the municipality. Half of the municipality is located on rocky landscape of Mount Hymettus. The urban sprawl of Athens began in the 1950s and 1960s and continued into the 1990s when housing developments continued in that part of Hymettus.

Transportation

Glyfada is connected to central Athens via two major avenues (Posidonos and Vouliagmenis) and a tram line which goes across the seaside next to Posidonos Avenue. On the quay at Glyfada is a rescue and rehabilitation centre for sea turtles, run by ARCHELON, the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece. The staff there provide free educational tours of the facilities and treatments for visitors.

Municpality

32,492 people registered with the Municipality of Glyfada voted during the Municipal Elections of October 2006. At the second round, 54.79% of the votes were for Ioannis G. Theodoropoulos, who is the mayor of Glyfada for the 2006-2010 period.

Famous residents and people

★ Constantine Mitsotakis, former Prime Minister of Greece

★ Anna Diamantopoulou, former Greek EU representative

★ Petros Doukas, Deputy finance Minister of Greece

★ Gerasimos Giakoumatos, Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Welfare

★ Fani Palli-Petralia, current Greek Minister of Tourism.

★ Elena Paparizou, Greek singer and Eurovision winner

★ Tolis Voskopoulos, Greek singer

★ Antonis Remos, Greek singer

★ Katerina Stanisi, Greek singer

★ Pashalis, Greek singer and Eurovision contestant

★ Bessy Argiraki, Greek singer, Eurovision contestant and member of Glyfada's council.

★ Tony Mokbel, Australian fugitive

★ Marcelo Mattos, Panathinaikos Player from Brazil

People

Glyfada has also become famous for its residents which include mythical billionaire Aristotle Onassis, Onassis's and Athina Livanos's daughter Christina Onassis but also the Mitsotakis family, who own a summer house in Glyfada. In addition former President of the Hellenic Republic Konstantinos Karamanlis visited Glyfada and its Golf course several times in the past. Greek politician Alexandros Panagoulis was born in Glyfada, and so was Eleni Menegaki.

Historical population

Year	Municipal population	Change	Density
1981	44,018	-	1,760.72/km²
1991	63,306	+19,288/+43.82%	2,532.24/km²
2001	83,665	+20,359/+32.16%	3,346.6/km²

Subdivisions

★ Ano Glyfada

★ Terpsithea

Twin cities

Glyfada is twinned with the following cities:

★ Niš, Serbia

★ Gżira, Malta

See also

★ List of cities in Greece

★ Communities of Attica

★ List of municipalities of Attica

External links

★ Glyfada Golf Club of Athens

★ Geographical Information

★ Info Pages - Glyfada

★ Mapquest - Glyfada

★ 360° Aerial Virtual Tour of Glyfada

★ Coordinates:

	'North:' Ellinikon
'West:' Saronic Gulf	'Glyfada'	'East:' Markopoulo on Hymettus
	'South:' Voula