Nea Ionia (, meaning New Ionia) is a town and a northern suburb of the Athens agglomeration,

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 ...

, and a municipality 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 ...

region. It was named after

Ionia Ionia ( ) was an ancient region encompassing the central part of the western coast of Anatolia. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionians who ...

, the region in

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

from which many

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

migrated in the 1920s as a part of the population exchange between Greece and Turkey. Many of the town families originated from the town of

Alanya Alanya (; ), formerly Alaiye, is a beach resort town, resort city, a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Antalya Province, Turkey. It is on the southern coast of Turkey, in the country's Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean R ...

which is currently a part of

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Nea Ionia is 7 km northeast of Athens city centre. The municipality has an area of 4.421 km². It is served by three Line 1 metro stations: , and .

History

In the past, the area was named Podarades after Greek Revolution Hero of Albanian origin Ziliftar Poda and his followers, settled in this area. The modern settlement was built after the Greco-Turkish War (1919-22) and the subsequent population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1923. That year refugees, mainly from

Pisidia Pisidia (; , ; ) was a region of ancient Asia Minor located north of Pamphylia, northeast of Lycia, west of Isauria and Cilicia, and south of Phrygia, corresponding roughly to the modern-day province of Antalya in Turkey. Among Pisidia's set ...

of Asia Minor, settled in the area. The new settlement was originally named Nea Pisidia. But later, due to the arrival of many refugees from other places of

, the settlement was finally named Nea Ionia. The suburb developed rapidly thanks to carpet handicrafts. The refugees carried their expertise to Athens and opened important carpet handicrafts. This branch was the main economical source for the residents of Nea Ionia for many years. Nea Ionia gradually increased its population and expanded into a large area. The suburb is composed of 13 neighborhoods: Nea Ionia (Center), Perissos, Inepoli, Pefkakia, Saframpoli, Neapoli, Eleftheroupoli, Alsoupoli, Kalogreza, Lazarou, Anthrakorihia, Irini, Omorfoklissia and Palaiologou.

Sports

Nea Ionia is the seat of the clubs O.F. Nea Ionia (Όμιλος Φιλάθλων Νέας Ιωνίας), club founded in 1926 with achievements in handball and Nea Ionia F.C. Other notable clubs are Eleftheroupoli F.C. with earlier presence in Beta Ethniki and DIKE.AS. Nea Ionia with current presence in A1 Ethniki handball. In the past there are also the important clubs PAO Saframpolis, PAO Kalogrezas and Ikaroi Neas Ionias which are inactive today.

Historical population

Notable residents

* Nikos Milioris (1896–1983) Greek author and senior military officer. * Stelios Kazantzidis (1931–2001), Greek singer. * Giota Lydia (1934), Greek Laïko singer. * Nikos Xanthopoulos (1934-2023), Greek actor. * Maria Farantouri (1947), Greek singer. *

Taki Tsan Panagiotis Stravalexis (, born September 28, 1979), also known by his stage names ''Waze-Taki-Tsan'' (short for ''Westley'') ''Timvorihos'', ''Pedi Thavma (, ),'' and ''Taki Tsan;'' is a Greek music producer, tattoo artist and rapper. He is a f ...

(1979), Greek rapper. * Pantelis Pantelidis (1983-2016), Greek singer. * Markos Kalovelonis (1994), Greek-Russian tennis player.

References

External links