Vouliagmeni ( el, Βουλιαγμένη, meaning "sunken") is a seaside suburb and former municipality 20 km south of

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

city centre. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 5.805 km². Its population was 4,180 at the 2011 census. In 1993 and again in 2009, it hosted the annual meeting of the Bilderberg Group. The suburb is named after

Lake Vouliagmeni Lake Vouliagmeni ("Sunken Lake") is a small brackish-water lake fed by underground currents seeping through the mass of Mount Hymettus located to the south of Vouliagmeni, Athens, Greece. Description The lagoon formed about 2,000 years ago. It was ...

, located in its vicinity. It is one of the most prestigious Athenian suburbs, home to renowned hotels and beaches. The area has some of the highest real estate prices in the Balkans.

Geography

Vouliagmeni sits on the southwestern foot of the

Hymettus Hymettus (), also Hymettos (; el, Υμηττός, translit=Ymittós, pronounced ), is a mountain range in the Athens area of Attica, East Central Greece. It is also colloquially known as ''Trellós'' (crazy) or ''Trellóvouno'' (crazy mountain) ...

mountain range. It is bisected by a

palm tree The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm tr ...

lined boulevard, Athinas Avenue, which arrives from Athens city centre as

Vouliagmenis Avenue Vouliagmenis Avenue () is one of the longest avenues in the Greater Athens area, stretching from central Athens to the seaside resort of Vouliagmeni. The total length is 21 km. The avenue begins at Athanasios Diakos Street and Michalako ...

, then runs parallel to the seashore and continues southwards. The area east of the main road is the rocky slope of a foothill of Mount

, and the bulk of the town is built there, along with the local elementary school, post office, banks and town hall. The western half, located between Athinas Avenue and the sea, is covered with pine trees and consists of two peninsulas, Megalo and Mikro Kavouri ("Big Crab" and "Little Crab") that feature sandy and pebble beaches in between rocky shores, luxury hotels (including the Astir Palace Hotel occupying most of Mikro Kavouri), the local high school, the picturesque

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type ...

of " St. George of the

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all th ...

", two marinas, an aquatic sports club (the "Nautical Club of Vouliagmeni", see below), a sports club (soccer, basketball, volleyball, tennis) and upscale restaurants, taverns and cafeterias on the waterfront. The Mikro Kavouri is connected to the mainland with a narrow, sandy

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus ...

commonly referred to as "Laimos" (λαιμός, i.e. the "Neck"), flanked by one public beach on one side and Astir Palace beach on the other side. The Megalo Kavouri is land largely owned by the

Church of Greece The Church of Greece ( el, Ἐκκλησία τῆς Ἑλλάδος, Ekklēsía tē̂s Helládos, ), part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. It ...

, which maintains an enclosed, protected pine forest and an orphanage. An

air force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

camp is also located there. Dotted with lavish villas, the two Kavouri areas are among the most expensive pieces of housing real estate in Greece. The Vouliagmeni beaches are consistently awarded the coveted EU blue flags for environmental excellence. The

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the ...

competition for the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

took place in this area. The small, rocky islet of Fleves lies off shore. After 1-1-2011 Vouliagmeni joined Vari and Voula, according to Kallikratis regulations, in a joined municipality. Grigoris Konstantellos is the incumbent mayor, elected for a second term at May 26, 2019, for the unified municipality of Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni.

History

Ruins of the Temple of Apollo Zoster have been excavated and can be viewed inside the public Astir Hotel beach. According to legend, when Leto was about to give birth to

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

and

Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified with ...

, she fled writhing in pain to

Delos The island of Delos (; el, Δήλος ; Attic: , Doric: ), near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. The excavations in the island ar ...

. During her flight she discarded her girdle, which fell on the Mikro Kavouri peninsula. When her son, the god

, was born, he picked up the discarded girdle and girdled himself in honour of his mother, and was hence named "Zoster" (Girt). Other remnants of early human habitation found in Vouliagmeni include

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

and

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

building foundations, and a 5th-century BC outpost. In classical times the area was the Athenian

deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and ear ...

Aixōnídes Halaí Halae Aexonides or Halai Aixonides ( grc, Ἁλαὶ Αἰξωνίδες), also known as Aexonides Halae or Aixonides Halai (Αἰξωνίδες Ἁλαί), was a deme of ancient Attica, a little south of Aexone. It derived its name from its salt-w ...

( el, Αἰξωνίδες Ἁλαί), i.e. the Saltfields of Aixōnē (modern day Glyfada). The deme's citizens were called Ἁλαεῖς, ''Halaeīs''.

Nautical Club of Vouliagmeni

The Nautical Club of Vouliagmeni, or "NOV" ( Greek: Ναυτικός Όμιλος Βουλιαγμένης, "NOB") was founded by local sportsmen in 1937 and is located on the eastern edge of the Mikro Kavouri, adjacent to the Astir Palace Hotel and overlooking the bay, town and lake. The club admits members and their guests and operates a

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or ...

, a

waterski Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires suffi ...

ing school, junior and Olympic competition

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' ( land yacht) over a chose ...

boats and facilities, an open-air, heated swimming pool, two rocky beaches, members' indoor and outdoor lounges, a gym, and a restaurant. The pool hosts swimming, finswimming,

synchronized swimming Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming) or artistic swimming is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by FINA (the ''Fédérati ...

and

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with th ...

teams and the respective training schools for children. The women's and men's water polo teams are considered a traditional force in European water polo and have won many Greek and several European Championships and Cups. The club often hosts

LEN Euroleague The LEN Champions League is the top-tier European professional water polo club competition with teams from up to 18 countries. It is organized by the Ligue Européenne de Natation. The competition started in 1963 as European Cup. A change of nam ...

and LEN Cup tournaments, its star players consistently being capped for the

Greece men's national water polo team The Greece men's national water polo team represents Greece in international men's water polo competitions and it is organized and run by the Hellenic Swimming Federation. Greece has a long tradition of strong presence at international level, wi ...

and

Greece women's national water polo team The Greece women's national water polo team represents Greece in international women's water polo competitions. Since the mid-1990s, Greece have emerged as one of the leading powers in the world, becoming World Champions after their gold medal w ...

. The club crest depicts a blue

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek � ...

set inside a white lifebuoy with eight crimson stripes; blue, white and crimson being the club colors.

Lake Vouliagmeni

Immediately to the south of town and very close to the sea, a rare geological formation is to be found that gave the suburb its modern name:

("Sunken Lake"), a small brackish-water lake fed by underground currents seeping through the mass of Mount

. Because of its comfortable water temperature —ranging from 22 to 29ºCelsius— the lake functions as a year-round spa.

Historical population

Notable residents

Greek businessperson Chrysanthos Panas was raised in Vouliagmeni.

References

External links

Nautical Club of Vouliagmeni (NOV)
{{Authority control Populated places in East Attica Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni