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Kifisia (Municipality, Greece)

Κηφισιά

Flag of Kifisia - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 5 November 2013

Presentation of Kifisia
Flag of Kifisia
Former municipality of Nea Erythraia

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Presentation of Kifisia

The municipality of Kifisia (70,600 inhabitants in 2011, 3,403 ha) was established in the 2011 local government reform as the merger of the former municipalities of Ekali (Εκάλη, 5,889 inh.), Kifisia (47,332 inh.), and Nea Erythraia (Νέα Ερυθραία, 17,379 inh.).

Kifisia is a famous recreational neighbourhood because of its many available forms of entertainment; it is also home to the Kefalari Park.
Kifisia, as Cephissia, dates back to ancient times, along with the ancient municipality of Epicephesia. It was the home of the famous dramatist Menander (circa 342-291 BC). Kifisia had become a famous retreat of philosophers during the reign of the Roman emperor Hadrian, when the wealthy Herodes Atticus of Marathon built the Villa Kifisia. It was also the practice of Herodes to provide free instruction in philosophy for selected youths from Athens. The remains of a monastery church dedicated to the Virgin of the Swallow (Panaghia Chelidonas) is associated with a story about a battle fought there between local people and unspecified "invaders" during medieval times.
Following the independence of Greece, Kifisia quickly became a summer resort of the ruling class of the new state. Its popularity faded during the middle of the 19th century when the danger of raids by brigands who infested the nearby mountains was very real. However, the suppression of brigandage, and the arrival of the railway in 1885, led to the development of the area, with summer houses built by wealthy Athenian families and many hotels. Today, Kifisia is an upmarket shopping centre, although many villas have been preserved.

Olivier Touzeau, 5 November 2013

Flag of Kifisia

The flag of of the former municipality of Kifisia (Kokkonis website) was white with the municipality's emblem, which portrays the dramatist Menander. The new municipality uses the same emblem, and, probably, the same flag.

Olivier Touzeau, 5 November 2013

Former municipality of Nea Erythraia

Flag of Nea Erythraia - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 23 May 2014

The defeat of the Greek army during the Greco-Turkish War led to what became known in Greece as the Asia Minor Catastrophe in 1922. Nea Erythraia was founded by Greek refugees from the region of Erythraia peninsula (now Karaburun, near İzmir) in Anatolia.

The flag of of the former municipality of Nea Erythraia (Kokkonis website) was yellowish/beige with a map of the Agean sea with the Greek and and the Turkish coast, and with the seal of the municipality, which is an ancient coin with the face of the Sibyl of Erythraia.

Olivier Touzeau, 23 May 2014