Ampelakia (, meaning

vineyards A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

) is a town and a former

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Salamis Island Salamis ( ; ) or Salamina () is the largest Greece, Greek island in the Saronic Gulf, about from the coast of Athens' port of Piraeus and about west of Athens center. The chief city, Salamina (city), Salamina, lies in the west-facing core of ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Salamis, of which it is a municipal unit. It lies on the central east coast of the island and has a land area of 15.169 km², comprising about one-sixth of the island's area (with the balance belonging to the city of Salamina). It has a population of 6,985 inhabitants (2021 census). Ancient Salamis city

History

The city of Ampelakia has a long history. It was at Ampelakia Bay where the famous

Battle of Salamis The Battle of Salamis ( ) was a naval battle fought in 480 BC, between an alliance of Greek city-states under Themistocles, and the Achaemenid Empire under King Xerxes. It resulted in a victory for the outnumbered Greeks. The battle was fou ...

occurred in 480 BC, during which the Greek ships defeated the Persian fleet of Xerxes. Moreover, there are many remnants of the ancient town of Salamina which was a significant economic power between 350 and 318 BC when the town minted coins bearing the shield of the legendary hero

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

. There are also churches which date back to the 16th century, for example the churches of St. John and St. Peter. Ampelakia was an important city in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

due its lucrative yarn industry. This was until a collapse of the entire industry due to the importation of English yarn roughly worth one-third of regular Ottoman yarn. Ampelakia soon became a shadow of its former self and a microchasm for the entire Ottoman

manufacturing industry Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a ...

as well. Today Ambelakia is a nice city for a walk. The majority of the citizens are sailors. However, excavations are taking place at the ancient port, which is full of shipwrecks of old ships from the last 20 years. There are also a couple of large ship repair yards at Ambelakia. There is an effort by the Greek government to clean up the port and continue the excavations but the shipyard owners are against it because they would have to move. The biggest

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

in the area is AB Vassilopoulos.

Geography

Much of the area is made up of rocky landscapes with a few bushes, while some farmlands lie within the sea. The rest of the area is made up of residential areas. A panorama of the

Attica Attica (, ''Attikḗ'' (Ancient Greek) or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the entire Athens metropolitan area, which consists of the city of Athens, the capital city, capital of Greece and the core cit ...

peninsula including the

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

part of Athens can be seen during clear days.

Historical population

Subdivisions

The municipal unit Ampelakia is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets): *Ampelakia (Ampelakia, Kynosoura, Spithari) *Selinia

References

External links