View source for Kifissia

{{Infobox Greek Dimos
|name               = Kifisia
|name_local         = Κηφισιά
|type = municipality
|image_map          = 2011 Dimos Kifisias.png
|image_skyline      = Βίλα Ατλαντίς 3473.jpg
|caption_skyline    = The Villa "Atlantis" the work of architect [[Ernst Ziller]] (1837-1923)
|city_flag          =
|city_seal          =
|coordinates        = {{coord|38|5|N|23|49|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_min      =
|elevation          = 290
|elevation_max      =
|periph             = [[Attica (region)|Attica]]
| periphunit         = [[North Athens (regional unit)|North Athens]]
| pop_municipality   = 72878
| area_municipality  = 35.10
|pop_municunit      = 48700
|area_municunit     = 25.937
|mayor              = Vasileios Xypolytas<ref name=mayor>[https://ekloges.ypes.gr/current/d/home/en/municipalities/9171/ Municipality of Kifissia, Municipal elections – October 2023], Ministry of Interior</ref>
|since              = 2023
|population_as_of   = 2021
|population_metro   =
|area_metro         =
|postal_code        = 145 xx
|area_code          = 210
|licence            = Z
|website            = [http://www.kifissia.gr www.kifissia.gr]
}}
'''Kifisia''' or '''Kifissia''' (also '''Kephisia''' or '''Cephissia'''; {{langx|el|Κηφισιά}}, {{IPA-el|cifiˈsça|pron}}) is a municipality and one of the most affluent northern suburbs in the [[Athens#Athens Urban Area|Athens agglomeration]], [[Attica]], [[Greece]], mainly accessed via Kifissias Avenue, running all the way from central Athens up to Theseos Avenue in the suburb of [[Nea Erythraia]]. It has traditionally been home to rich Greek families and major [[List of political families in Greece|Greek political families]].
==Municipality==
The municipality Kifisia was formed during the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 3 former municipalities, that became municipal units:<ref name=Kallikratis>{{Cite web|url=http://www.et.gr/idocs-nph/search/pdfViewerForm.html?args=5C7QrtC22wGYK2xFpSwMnXdtvSoClrL8-SrPzKAEPjjtIl9LGdkF53UIxsx942CdyqxSQYNuqAGCF0IfB9HI6hq6ZkZV96FIukI0UzcPsWCK0LpLhpa7rhiWB4R5ntTnoWw7U8E1Amg.|title=ΦΕΚ A 87/2010, Kallikratis reform law text|language=el|publisher=[[Government Gazette (Greece)|Government Gazette]]}}</ref>
*[[Ekali]]
*Kifisia
*[[Nea Erythraia]]
The municipality has an area of 35.100&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>, the municipal unit 25.937&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>.<ref name=stat01>{{cite web|url=http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00098%20.pdf |publisher=National Statistical Service of Greece |title=Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation) |language=el |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921212047/http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00098%20.pdf |archive-date=2015-09-21 }}</ref>
==Geography==
[[File:Alsos-1.jpg|thumb|The Kifissia Gardens, famous for the large flower exhibitions hosted there yearly.|left|260x260px]]
Kifisia is situated in central [[Attica]], at the western end of the forested [[Mount Pentelicus|Penteli]] mountain range. The small river [[Cephissus (Athenian plain)|Kifisos]] forms the western border of the municipality. Kifisia is situated 12&nbsp;km northeast of Athens city centre. The built-up area of Kifisia is continuous with those of the neighbouring suburbs [[Lykovrysi]], [[Nea Erythraia]], [[Marousi]] and [[Pefki]]. Kifisia consists of the following neighbourhoods: Adames, Ano Kifisia, Kato Kifisia, Kefalari, Nea Kifisia and Politeia (or Politia<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.greece.com/destinations/Attica/Athens/City_quarter/Politia.html|title=Politia Athens &#124; Politia Information &#124; Politia Weather &#124; Politia Map &#124; Greece.com|website=www.greece.com}}</ref>). It is a green suburb with many parks and tree-lined streets.
The main thoroughfare is [[Kifisias Avenue]], which connects Kifisia with central Athens and the [[A6 motorway (Greece)|A6 toll motorway]]. The [[Kifisia station]] is the north terminus of [[Line 1 (Athens Metro)|Athens Metro Line 1]].
===Climate===
Kifisia has a hot-summer [[Mediterranean climate]] (''Csa'') with hot, dry summers and cool, rainy winters. Owing to its higher elevation, Kifisia, like most of the northern part of [[Athens]], has a significantly lower mean annual temperature than the center and the coastal parts of the city (16.1&nbsp;°C) according to the 1956-2010 annual average of the adjacent weather station of [[Tatoi]], though this has slightly increased in recent years.
Yearly precipitation totals around 450&nbsp;mm, one of the highest values for the whole Athens basin, mostly due to the higher amounts of precipitation received caused by [[Lake-effect rain]] or snow from the [[Aegean Sea]] to the north-east in the winter months<ref>{{Cite web |title=Τι είναι το "Aegean Effect Snow" |url=https://hellenicweather.com/ti-einai-to-aegean-effect-snow/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |language=el}}</ref> and the somewhat more frequent occasional summer thunderstorms, when compared to the rest of the city. Snow in particular, though not excessively common, can cause heavy disruption to daily life as it occasionally falls in large amounts during short periods. Notably, snow accumulation had reached 80&nbsp;cm during a severe snowstorm on 4–6 January 2002.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://northmeteo.gr/ianoyarios-2002-enas-aprosmenos-istorikos-chionias-stin-athina-photos/ |title= North meteo Athens snowstorm 2002 |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= 1 August 2022|website=northmeteo.gr |publisher=[[Northmeteo]] |access-date= 25 August 2021|quote=}}</ref>
{{Weather box/concise C
| location=Tatoi, 235 m asl (1956-2010)
| source=Hellenic National Meteorological Service<ref name="HNMS_Tatoi">{{cite web |title=Climatological Information for Tatoi, Greece |publisher= Hellenic National Meteorological Service |url=http://www.hnms.gr/hnms/english/climatology/climatology_region_diagrams_html?dr_city=Tatoi |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920023042/http://www.hnms.gr/hnms/english/climatology/climatology_region_diagrams_html?dr_city=Tatoi |archive-date=2016-09-20 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>
| 11.7 |12.5 |14.9 |19.4 |25.0 |29.9 |32.1 |31.9 |27.9 |22.4 |17.5 |13.2 <!--highs-->
| 3.4 |3.6 |5.1 |7.9 |12.1 |16.5 |19.5 |19.6 |15.8 |12.0 |8.0 |5.1 <!--lows-->
| 67.5 |50.9 |49.7 |24.6 |23.2 |10.3 |10.9 |5.5 |19.2 |51.3 |59.2 |79.7 <!--rain-->
}}
==History==
===Antiquity===
{{Further|Ancient Greece}}
Cephisia was a [[deme]] of ancient [[Athens]]. It was the home of the famous dramatist [[Menander]] (circa 342-291 BC).<ref>Rossiter, Stuart, ''Greece,'' Ernest Benn Ltd., London (1977) p185</ref>
Cephisia had become a famous retreat of philosophers during the reign of the Roman emperor [[Hadrian]], when the wealthy [[Herodes Atticus]] of [[Marathon, Greece]] built the Villa Cephisia. In his ''Attic Nights'', [[Aulus Gellius]] describes the unique ambiance of intellectual ferment and aristocratic leisure in an idyllic setting which he created there. It was also the practice of Herodes to provide free instruction in philosophy for selected youths from [[Athens]].
The remains of some of his family funeral monuments lie at the centre of the town in Platonas Square. He also beautified a sanctuary to the [[Nymph]]s in the ravine of Kokkinara, in the nearby district of Kefalari.<ref name=tomkinson>Tomkinson, John L., [http://www.anagnosis.gr/index.php?pageID=332&la=eng ''Athens''], Anagnosis Books, Athens (2006) pp217-231</ref>
===Medieval period ===
The history of Kifisia during the medieval period is obscure, but the remains of a monastery church dedicated to the Virgin of the [[Swallow]] (Panagia Chelidonas) is associated with a story about a battle fought there between local people and unspecified "invaders". This chapel is a rare example of a monastery church originally provided with a fireplace, for the chimney remains.<ref name=tomkinson/>
[[File:Monasterychapel.jpeg|thumb|The monastery chapel of the Virgin of the Swallow (''Panagia Chelidonas'').]]
===Ottoman Era===
{{Further|Ottoman Greece}}
During Ottoman period, in 1667, Kifisia was visited by the Turkish traveler [[Evliya Çelebi]]. He described a small country town set in a fertile plain of paradisaic beauty, with three hundred tile-roofed houses. Half the inhabitants of the town were Muslims and half were Christians. He records that there was a single mosque, without a minaret, and many small Christian chapels - some of which survive today.<ref name=tomkinson/>
===Post Greek Independence===
{{Further|Greek War of Independence}}
The temperature in Kifisia tends to be significantly lower than that of the city,<ref>{{cite web|title=Photos of Kifisia under snow|url=http://www.athenswalk.net/_/Photos/Pages/2008_Nea_Kifisia_-_Nea_Erithrea_Under_Snow.html}}</ref>  so following the independence of Greece, it quickly became a summer resort of the ruling class of the new state.
The village was home to an [[Arvanitika]] speaking community, however due to its proximity to [[Athens]], it has undergone a language shift.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sasse |first1=Hans-Jürgen |title=Arvanitika: the long Hellenic centuries of an Albanian variety |journal=International Journal of the Sociology of Language |date=1974 |issue=132–134 |page=53 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gtVoAAAAIAAJ}}</ref> The popularity of Kifissia faded somewhat during the middle of the nineteenth century when the danger of raids by [[brigand]]s who infested the nearby mountains was very real. However, the suppression of brigandage, and the arrival of the railway in 1885, led to the dramatic development of the area.
It became the fashion for wealthy Athenian families to build summer houses in Kifisia, and keen social competition led to the creation of a unique architectural ambiance, as villas in ever more exotic styles proliferated. For those unable to afford a summer house, many hotels were built, where the slightly less affluent could spend the holiday months rubbing shoulders with their social betters.
The heyday of Kifisia was probably during the inter-war period, when the leaders of the two main rival political parties frequented different hotels in the town together with their most important supporters.<ref name=tomkinson/>
===World War II and Civil War===
{{Further|Axis occupation of Greece|Greek Civil War}}
Following the liberation of Greece from German occupation in 1944, the British [[Royal Air Force]] ill-advisedly made its headquarters in Kefalari, taking over several hotels. With the outbreak of the [[Greek Civil War]], the RAF personnel were first besieged, then forced to surrender, and marched across the mountains into northern Greece; being released in [[Trikala]] only after a truce had been arranged.<ref name=tomkinson/>
==Museums==
The [[Goulandris Museum of Natural History]] is situated in the heart of Kifissia and has collections from the natural wildlife of the Greek territory.
==Economy==
[[Accenture]], [[Aegean Airlines]], [[Barclays|Barcleys]], [[BP]], [[Eurobank Ergasias]], [[Eltrak]], [[Ellaktor]], [[Kioleides]], [[Ferrari]] [[Metaxa]], [[Metro S.A.]], [[Volvo]] and others have their head office in Kifisia.<ref>"[http://en.aegeanair.com/Content.aspx?Page=52 Headquarters]." [[Aegean Airlines]]. Retrieved on 22 February 2010.</ref>
==Sports==
[[File:Zirineio.jpg|250px|thumbnail|Zirineio Sport Center in Kifissia]]
Kifissia has several sport clubs in different sports.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kifissia, sports |url=http://www.kifissia.gr/main/content/athlitismos/dak_politias.html |publisher=kifissia.gr |access-date=14 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214223012/http://www.kifissia.gr/main/content/athlitismos/dak_politias.html |archive-date=14 February 2015 }}</ref> From them, most notable are [[ZAON]], club with many Panhellenic titles in [[A1 Ethniki Women's Volleyball|Greek women volleyball]], [[Kifissia AC]] that plays almost constantly in men volleyball first division (A1 Ethniki) and [[Nea Kifissia B.C.]] that plays in basketball first division ([[Greek Basket League]]). The football team of Kifissia is [[A.E. Kifisia F.C.|Kifissia F.C.]], and plays in [[Super League Greece]] (top division). Kifissia also is the seat of [[Athina 90]] (most times winner in [[Hellenic Futsal Premiere League|Futsal League]]), [[AOH Hymettus]] (most times winner in [[Greek Field Hockey League|Field Hockey League]]), and Iraklis Kifissias Presence in A1 Womans Category, with more than 200 athletes in Iraklis Kifissias Volleyball Academy.
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="4"|Sport clubs based in Kifissia
|-
!Club
!Founded
!Sports
!Achievements
|-
|[[Kifissia AC]]||1932||[[Volleyball]]||Presence in A1 Ethniki
|-
|[[A.E. Kifisia F.C.|Kifissia F.C.]]<br />''<small>(Former: AO Kifissia,<br />Elpidoforos)</small>''||2012<br />''<small>(1932)<br />(1971)</small>''||[[Association football|Football]]|| Presence in the [[Super League Greece]]
|-
|Iraklis Kifissias||1992||[[Volleyball]]||Presence in A1 Womans Category, with more than 200 athletes in Iraklis Kifissias Academy
|-
|[[ZAON Kifissia]]||1966||[[Volleyball]], [[Basketball]]||Panhellenic titles in women volleyball
|-
|[[Athina 90]]||1990 ||[[Futsal]]||Panhellenic titles in Futsal
|-
|[[AOH Hymettus]]|| 1990||[[Field Hockey]]||Panhellenic titles in Field Hockey
|-
|[[Nea Kifissia B.C.]]||1996 ||[[Basketball]]||Presence in A1 Ethniki
|}
==Historical population==
The population grew fast between 1991-2001 by 18,3% while in 2001-2011 the percentage was lower, 7.13% <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kifissia.gr/el/demographics|title=Δημογραφικά &#124; ΔΗΜΟΣ ΚΗΦΙΣΙΑΣ|website=www.kifissia.gr}}</ref>
{| class=wikitable
|-
! Year !! Municipal unit !! Municipality
|-
| 1951 || 12,991 || -
|-
| 1981 || 31,876 || -
|-
| 1991 || 39,166 || -
|-
| 2001 || 43,929 || -
|-
| 2011 || 47,332 || 70,600
|-
| 2021 || 48,700 || 72,878
|}
==Notable people==
*[[Menander]] (circa 342-291 BC), dramatist, born in Kifisia
*[[Emmanuel Benakis]], merchant and politician, died in Kifisia<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Georgiadou |first=Maria |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lpprCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA17 |title=Constantin Carathéodory: Mathematics and Politics in Turbulent Times |date=2013-12-01 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3-642-18562-5 |pages=17 |language=en}}</ref>
*[[Andreas Empeirikos]] (1901 in [[Romania]] - August 3, 1975), poet, died in Kifisia
*[[Penelope Delta]] (1874 Alexandria – 27 April 1941)<ref name=IrishTimes>Battersby, Eileen (25 January 2014). [https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/a-visit-to-the-court-of-king-witless-1.1663061 "A visit to the court of King Witless"]. ''[[The Irish Times]]''. Retrieved 27 April 27, 2019.</ref>
*[[Theodoros Pangalos (general)|Theodoros Pangalos]] (1878–1952), general, died in Kifisia
*[[Themistoklis Sophoulis]] (1860–1949), politician, died in Kifisia
*[[Ioannis Metaxas]] (12 April 1871 – 29 January 1941), politician and [[major general]] of the Hellenic Army, died in Kifisia
*[[Evgenios Spatharis]] (1924–2009), [[shadow theatre]] artist, born in Kifisia<ref name="ERTNEWS10-05">{{cite news|url=http://news.ert.gr/en/22102-efyge-o-eygenios-spatharis.htm |title=Evgenios Spatharis Passes Away |date=2009-05-10 |work=[[Hellenic Radio and Television|ERT]] |publisher=news.ert.gr |accessdate=2009-05-15 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090512010748/http://news.ert.gr/en/22102-efyge-o-eygenios-spatharis.htm |archivedate=May 12, 2009 }}</ref>
*[[Antonis Samaras]] (born 1951), politician and grandson of Penelope Delta
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.kifissia.gr/ Official website] {{in lang|el}}
{{Geographic location
|Centre =    Kifisia
|North =     [[Nea Erythraia]]
|Northeast = [[Ekali]]
|East =      [[Dionysos, Greece|Dionysos]]
|Southeast = [[Nea Penteli]] and [[Penteli, Greece|Penteli]]
|South =     [[Marousi]] and [[Melissia]]
|Southwest = [[Metamorfosi]], [[Lykovrysi]] and [[Pefki]]
|West =      [[Acharnes]]
|Northwest =
|image =
}}
{{Kallikratis-Attica}}
{{Kifisia div}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Municipalities of Attica]]
[[Category:Populated places in North Athens (regional unit)]]
[[Category:Kifissia| ]]
[[Category:Shopping districts and streets in Greece]]
[[Category:Acropolis Rally]]
[[Category:Arvanite settlements]]