Nea Makri () is a town in

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 ...

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 local government reform of 2011, it has been a municipal unit within the municipality of

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

. The municipal unit has an area of 36.662 km². It is part of the Athens metropolitan area.

Geography

Nea Makri is situated on the coast of the Petalioi Gulf, a gulf of 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 ...

, in the easternmost part 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. It is 7 km north of

Rafina Rafina () is a suburban port town located on the eastern coast of Attica in Greece. It has a population of 14,620 inhabitants (2021 census). Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Rafina-Pikermi, of which it is the ...

, 8 km south of Marathon and 25 km northeast 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 ...

city centre. The municipal unit Nea Makri also contains the village Neos Voutzas, 5 km south of Nea Makri town centre.

Greek National Road 83 Greek National Road 83 is a national highway of Greece. It connects Athens with Rafina via Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can ...

(Athens - Marathon - Rafina) passes through Nea Makri. Popular locations near Nea Makri include Zoumberi Beach and the Brexiza Wetland. It is widely known and visited due to its beaches and coastline.

History

The area was once known as ''Plesti'', but following the 1922 Greek military disaster in Asia Minor and the subsequent expulsion of the native Greeks of Makri in Turkey, it was renamed ''Nea'' Makri (''New'' Makri) by the refugees who settled there. The

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

operated a HF radio communications base north of Nea Makri from the mid to the late 20th century. The transmitters were located further north, at Kato Souli. The call sign of the station was ''NGR''. The American naval communications station was the deployment location for Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133, home-ported in Gulfport, MS. Saint Ephraim the martyr was a monk who may have lived in the Monastery of the Annunciation in Nea Makri; it has become an important monastery in recent years and has become a site of pilgrimage for all Greeks.

Population

References

{{Marathon div Closed installations of the United States Navy Marathon, Greece Populated places in East Attica

Geography

History

Population

See also

References