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Piraeus
Accommodations in Athens
We
are sure that most of you have heard, at least once, the
song "Ta Pedia tou Pirea" which was composed by Manos Hadjidakis
and sung by Melina Merkouri
in
the
film
"Never
on
sunday" But not many people know much about the place that was made
world-famous by that film and song: the city and port of Piraeus. Due to
the rapid development
of the area between them, Athens and Piraeus have really become one big city,
the boundaries between them being more of an administrative nature rather
than than real ones. The city of Piraeus, planned by architect Ippodamos
from Melos,
was built in the middle of the 5th century B.C. Ippodamos' plans were used
as guidelines for re planning the city in 1834. Piraeus was known in medieval
times
as Porto Leone, a name due to the enormous stone lion which guarded the port's
entrance. Piraeus is the main port of Athens, the biggest in Greece and one
of the most important in the Mediterranean sea. Today, the life of Piraeus
is centred
around its three ports: the main, central one and those of Zea and Mikrolimano.
Piraeus is the most important shipping, industrial and transport centre of
Greece.
Source:
Greek National Tourism Organisation.
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