The Paralia () was a geographical and administrative region (''

trittys 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 ...

'') of

ancient Attica The regions of ancient Greece were sub-divisions of the Hellenic world as conceived by the ancient Greeks, shown by their presence in the works of ancient historians and geographers or in surviving legends and myths. Conceptually, there is no cl ...

. The term designated the coasts of Attica, but was also generally used for the entire portion of Attica east of

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 ...

. 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 made to territory from comprise three zones (''trittyes''), 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 city of Athens), interior (''

mesogeia The Mesogeia or Mesogaia (, "Midlands") is a geographical region of Attica in Greece. History The term designates since antiquity the inland portion of the Attic peninsula. The term acquired a technical meaning with the reforms of Cleisthenes in ...

'') and coastal (''paralia''). In the Classical period, the ''paralia'' comprised about 40 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 ...

'').

References

Geography of ancient Attica {{AncientAttica-geo-stub