Palaio Faliro 3.82

Palaio Faliro is a coastal district and a municipality in the southern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. At the 2011 census it had 64,021 inhabitants.GeographyPalaio Faliro is situated on the east coast of the Phalerum Bay, a bay of the Saronic Gulf, 6 km southwest of Athens city centre. The municipality has an area of 4.574 km2. It is surrounded by other districts of Athens: Kallithea, Nea Smyrni, Agios Dimitrios and Alimos. The Pikrodafni stream flows into sea on the border of Palaio Faliro and Alimos.The seaside area was redeveloped for the 2004 Summer Olympics, and now contains a seaside promenade, several sports venues, a marina and the Park of Maritime Tradition, where museum ships are exhibited.The neighbourhoods of Palaio Faliro are Amfithea, Batis, Edem, Panagitsa, Floisvos, Palmyra, Pikrodafni, Agia Varvara and Kopsachila.HistoryThe conventions for writing and Romanizing Ancient Greek and Modern Greek differ markedly, which can create confusion. Thus the Greek name Φάληρον (Phaleron) can appear in various forms in English (Phalerum, Faliro, etc.), according to the historical context, disguising the fact that it is the same word.Phaleron was an important place in antiquity, then as now one of the demes of Attica, however a precise definition of its Classical topography is lacking, although the location of the deme is well established. Pausanias records that it was on the coast, equidistant from Athens and Cape Kolias (i.e. Ayios Kosmas) at 20 stadia. Strabo enumerates the coastal demes east of Piraeus and starts with Phaleron. The site of the ancient town appears to be the area and headland around the church of St. George, with the harbour to the west in the open roadstead. Remains of conglomerate blocks have been found crossing the heights of Old Phaleron to the sea and these are likely to be part of the Phaleric Wall recorded by Thucydides.