The Mesogeia or Mesogaia (, "Midlands") is a geographical region of

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 ...

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 ...

History

The term designates since antiquity the inland portion of the Attic peninsula. The term acquired a technical meaning with the reforms of

Cleisthenes Cleisthenes ( ; ), or Clisthenes (), was an ancient Athenian lawgiver credited with reforming the constitution of ancient Athens and setting it on a democratic footing in 508 BC. For these accomplishments, historians refer to him as "the fath ...

in , when each of the ten

Attic tribes ''Phyle'' (, ; pl. ''phylai'', ; derived from Greek , ''phyesthai'' ) is an ancient Greek term for tribe or clan. Members of the same ''phyle'' were known as ''symphyletai'' () meaning 'fellow tribesmen'. During the late 6th century BC, Cleisthe ...

was in territory composed of three zones (''

trittyes The ''trittyes'' (; ''trittúes''), singular ''trittys'' (; τριττύς ''trittús'') were part of the organizational structure that divided the population in ancient Attica, and is commonly thought to have been established by the reforms of ...

''), urban (''

asty Asty (; ) was the physical space of a city or town in Ancient Greece, especially as opposed to the political concept of a ''polis'', which encompassed the entire territory and citizen body of a city-state. In Classical Athens, the ''asty'' was ...

'', the main city of Athens), interior (''mesogeia'') and coastal ('' paralia''). In the Classical period, the ''mesogeia'' comprised about 47 settlements (''

demoi In Ancient Greece, a deme or (, plural: ''demoi'', δήμοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside existed in the 6th century BC and earlier, but did not acquire ...

''). In modern usage, the term refers to the central portion of

East Attica East Attica () is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Attica. The regional unit covers the eastern part of the urban agglomeration of Athens, and also the rural area to its east. Administration The regional unit East ...

, separated from the Athens basin by

Mount Hymettus Hymettus (), also Hymettos (; ; ), 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); the latter originates from the French "très ...

, and delineated to the north by Mount Penteli and to the south by the mountains of south Attica (Merenta, ,

Laureotic Olympus Laureotic Olympus (named for the region of Laurium, also Όλυμπος Αττικής "Attic Olympus", Σκόρδι) is a hill in Attica, just north of Anavyssos, in Saronikos municipality, East Attica, Greece Greece, officially the ...

). To the east the Mesogeia reaches the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans and Anatolia, and covers an area of some . In the north, the Aegean is connected to the Marmara Sea, which in turn con ...

at the

Petalioi Gulf The Petalioi Gulf ( - ''Kolpos Petalion'') is a gulf of the Aegean Sea, Greece. It stretches between the east coast of Attica and the south tip of the island Euboea. It takes its name from the Petalioi islands, that are situated in the northeast ...

, but is separated from the actual coastline by a line of low hills. In the late

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the area was the site of

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

(

Arvanite Arvanites (; Arvanitika: , or , ; Greek: , ) are a population group in Greece of Albanian origin. They are bilingual, traditionally speaking Arvanitika, an Albanian language variety, along with Greek. Their ancestors were first recorded ...

) settlement, as can be seen from toponyms such as

Spata Spata () is a town east of downtown Athens, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Spata-Artemida, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The municipal unit (officially named Spata-Loutsa) has an a ...

Liopesi Paiania (, , before 1915: Λιόπεσι - ''Liopesi'', ; Arvanitika: Λοπε̱σ romanized: Lopës) is a town and a municipality in East Attica, Greece. It is an eastern suburb of Athens, located east of Mount Hymettus. It is 11 km east of ...

. Before the 2011

Kallikratis reform The Kallikratis Programme () is the common name of Greek law 3852/2010 of 2010, a major administrative reform in Greece. It brought about the second major reform of the country's administrative divisions following the 1997 Kapodistrias reform. ...

, the area comprised the municipalities of

Gerakas Gerakas () is a town, a suburb of Athens and a former municipality in East Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Pallini, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. In antiquity Gerakas consti ...

Glyka Nera Glyka Nera (Greek: Γλυκά Νερά , meaning "sweet waters", named after an underground water source) is a suburb in the northeastern part of Athens Metropolitan Area. Since the 2011 local government reform it belongs to the East Attica regio ...

, Anthousa,

Pallini Pallini () is a suburban town in Greater Athens Area and a municipality in East Attica, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Gerakas. It is the seat of administration of the East Attica regional unit. Geography Pallini is situated ...

Paiania Paiania (, , before 1915: Λιόπεσι - ''Liopesi'', ; Arvanitika: Λοπε̱σ romanized: Lopës) is a town and a municipality in East Attica, Greece. It is an eastern suburb of Athens, located east of Mount Hymettus. It is 11 km east of ...

Pikermi Pikermi () is a suburb of Athens and a former community of East Attica regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Rafina-Pikermi, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of ...

, Spata, Artemida, Rafina,

Markopoulo Mesogaias Markopoulo Mesogaias () is a town and a municipality in East Attica, Greece. The municipality has an area of . Geography The municipality Markopoulo Mesogaias is situated in the Mesogaia plain, in the eastern part of the Attica peninsula, and t ...

Keratea Keratea () is a town in East Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lavreotiki, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 129.864 km2. It is part of Athens metropolitan ...

Koropi Koropi (, ) is a suburban town in East Attica, Greece. It is the seat of the municipality Kropia. It has been home to the new training facilities of Panathinaikos football club since the summer of 2013. Geography Koropi is situated east of the ...

, Kalyvia Thorikou,

Vari Vari () is a southern suburb of Athens and former municipality in East Attica, Greece along the Athens coast. The ancient Athenian deme of Anagyrous was situated here. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Vari-Vo ...

Kouvaras Kouvaras () is a village and a former community in East Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Saronikos, Attica, Saronikos, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 24.371 ...

, and

Voula Voula () is a southern suburb of Athens along the Athens coast and former municipality in East Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni, of which it is the seat and a municipal u ...

. Its main settlement is Spata, and its main harbour is Rafina. The

Athens International Airport Athens International Airport ''Eleftherios Venizelos'' , commonly initialised as AIA, is the largest international airport in Greece, serving the city of Athens and region of Attica. It began operation on 28 March 2001 (in time for the 2004 Su ...

is also located near Spata.

Maps

File:CarteAttiqueApresClisthene.jpg, The division of Attica into urban (pink), inland (green), and coastal (blue) zones by Cleisthenes File:Mesogia Morphological Marking b.jpg, The modern extent of the Mesogeia area

References

Sources

* Ancient Athens Geography of ancient Attica Geography of East Attica {{AncientAttica-geo-stub

History

Maps

See also

References

Sources