Stamata ( el, Σταμάτα) is a community in

East Attica East Attica ( el, Ανατολική Αττική) 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. Adm ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipality

Dionysos In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...

, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 18.950 km². Stamata is a rather exclusive suburb, situated between the

Parnitha Mount Parnitha ( ell, Πάρνηθα, , Katharevousa and grc, Πάρνης ''Parnis''/''Parnes''; sometimes Parnetha) is a densely forested mountain range north of Athens, the highest on the peninsula of Attica, with an elevation of 1,413 m, and ...

and

Penteli Penteli ( el, Πεντέλη) is a village and a municipality in the North Athens regional unit, Attica, Greece. It belongs to the Athens rural area. It takes its name from Mount Pentelicus. Municipality The municipality Penteli was formed at th ...

mountains, about 23 km northeast of

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...

. Till the last decades, only the main village was inhabited, while the

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...

area was cultivated by the inhabitants of the village. Nowadays, there are also residences in the settlement of Amygdaleza (Αμυγδαλέζα) and the residential associations of Euxeinos Pontos (Εύξεινος Πόντος) and Prokonisos (Προκόνησος). Stamata could be designated as a rural, rather than a suburban, area, but luxury houses and villas are continuously being developed, mainly in the aforementioned residential associations, turning Stamata into an

upper middle class In sociology, the upper middle class is the social group constituted by higher status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term '' lower middle class'', which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle-class stra ...

suburb.

Land use

A beautiful

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

covers the largest part of Stamata, where any kind of development is strictly prohibited by law, although it is an

open secret An open secret is a concept or idea that is "officially" (''de jure'') secret or restricted in knowledge, but in practice (''de facto'') is widely known; or it refers to something that is widely known to be true but which none of the people most i ...

that there are various cases of

trespass Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels Trespass to chattels is a tort whereby the infringing party has intentionally (or, in Australia, negligently) interfered with ...

ing and environmental devastation. The residential areas cover only a small part, while in the remaining rural areas, there are

sheepcote A pen is an enclosure for holding livestock. It may also perhaps be used as a term for an enclosure for other animals such as pets that are unwanted inside the house. The term describes types of enclosures that may confine one or many anima ...

farmlands Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with bot ...

and

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vine ...

Legend

Stamata is believed to lie along the route run by

Pheidippides Pheidippides ( grc-gre, Φειδιππίδης, , ; "Son of Pheídippos") or Philippides (Φιλιππίδης) is the central figure in the story that inspired a modern sporting event, the marathon race. Pheidippides is said to have run from M ...

on his mythical journey to declare victory in the

Battle of Marathon The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. The battle was the culmination ...

, which gave its name to the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , 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 are also wheelchair di ...

sporting event. According to the legend, Pheidippides was urged to stop ( el, Σταμάτα) while passing through the community, hence giving it its name.

Cuisine

Stamata is now famed for its

taverna A taverna (Greek: ταβέρνα) is a small Greek restaurant that serves Greek cuisine. The taverna is an integral part of Greek culture and has become familiar to people from other countries who visit Greece, as well as through the establishm ...

s serving grilled meat, popular among weekending

Athenians Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, and the

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

References

{{Dionysos div Dionysos, Greece Populated places in East Attica

Land use

Legend

Cuisine

See also

References