20090426 Kifissos river view from a bridge Athens

Cephissus (; , ''Kifisos'') is a river in the vicinity of

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

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 ...

. Together with the neighbouring river Ilisos, it drains a catchment area of . The '' Bibliotheca'' (3.15.1) states that the legendary

Erechtheus Erechtheus (; ) in Greek mythology was a king of Athens, the founder of the ''polis'' and, in his role as god, attached to Poseidon, as "Poseidon Erechtheus". The name Erichthonius is carried by a son of Erechtheus, but Plutarch conflated the tw ...

' wife

Praxithea In Greek mythology, Praxithea (; Ancient Greek: Πραξιθέα) was a name attributed to five women. * Praxithea, a Naiad nymph. She married Erichthonius of Athens and by him had a son named Pandion I. Praxithea's sister Zeuxippe married her n ...

was the daughter of Phrasimus (otherwise unknown to us) by Diogenia (otherwise unknown to us) daughter of Cephissus. The source of the river is in the saddle depression between the

Parnitha Mount Parnitha (, , Katharevousa and ''Parnis''/''Parnes''; sometimes Parnetha) is a lightly forested mountain range north of Athens, the highest on the peninsula of Attica, with an elevation of 1,413 m, and a summit known as Karavola (Καρα� ...

and Penteli mountains. From there it flows generally southwest until it reaches the Phaleron Bay between

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

and

Moschato Moschato () is a town and a suburb in the southwestern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Moschato-Tavros, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. Geography Mosch ...

. Presently the river flows near or under the A1 motorway, linking Athens and Thessaloniki for much of its length. This section of the A1 is named ''Avenue Kifissou'', near which is the Kifissos Bus Terminal.

References

Rivers of Greece Rivers of Attica Landforms of East Attica Landforms of North Athens (regional unit) Landforms of South Athens (regional unit) Drainage basins of the Aegean Sea River gods in Greek mythology {{Greece-river-stub