We are here, there, in between
We are just 20 km east of Athens.
In the heart of the vast plain of Mesoghia.
On the peaks and between the slopes of two small hills east of Mount Hymettus.
Here, where Erchia was partly located, a deme in Attica, belonging to the Aegeide tribe according to the administrative division of Cleisthenes.
In the place where, according to mythology, Erchias hosted the goddess Demetra while she was searching for her daughter Persephone, who had been abducted by the god of the Underworld, Pluto.
Hence, the name Erchia.
In the birthplace of the historian Xenophon and the orator Isocrates.
In the lands where Alkibiades owned estates covering three hundred plethra (est. 27,000 square meters).
In the land where ancient settlements, sanctuaries, and cemeteries were located, and significant findings representing almost all historical periods were unearthed from.
In the place where once a year, in memory of the Apostle Saints Peter and Paul, an entire city rises for the grand celebratory feast with the traditional stew.
There, where everything fits: myths, history, customs, traditions.
We are in Spata.
The settlement of the area began around the 3rd millennium BC.
A robust settlement was established in a naturally fortified position on Zagani hill, overlooking the plain. Until, one day, its remains were transferred stone by stone, and the prehistoric acropolis of Zagani was inevitably replaced by the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport of Athens.
Between these two milestones, the place flourished and declined several times, was abandoned, colonised, settled, conquered, reconstructed, expanded. People with very different backgrounds found a new place to call home here, and new population mixtures emerged. Until, in recent times of independent Greece, it took the form of a “village” based on Western standards of the time, evolved into a town, and gradually into a modern urban centre, constantly changing and developing.
The transition from Zagani to Erchia and from Erchia to Spata is portrayed in the exhibition “Spata Cultural Landscape Stories”. Monuments, archaeological findings, modern and contemporary architecture, images of the natural environment, historical events, impressions, narratives and sounds, all come together in this narrative. They create stories about the lands of the wider Spata region and its coastal area of Artemida, territories continuously populated for almost five millennia, and reveal their daily lives, occupations, social organisation, beliefs, and worships.
TIMELINE
Today
Administrative center of the Municipality of Spata-Artemida, which was formed under the “Kallikratis” Scheme from the merger of the Municipalities of Spata-Loutsa and Artemida in accordance with Law 3852/2010.
20th century
Municipality established in 1952, with Christos I. Bekkas as its first elected Mayor.
Community recognized as independent by law DNZ’ (4057) of the government of Eleftherios Venizelos in 1912, with Georgios Georgas as its first Community leader.
Recent times of modern Greece
Settlement of the Municipality of Kekropia, with Koursalas (Koropi) as its administrative center, established under a Royal Decree in 1840. Mayor of Kropia during the period 1887-1891 was Michael Papachristou from Spata.
“Chorion” (village) of the Municipality of Araphena with its administrative center in Araphena (Markopoulo), formed under a Decree of the Bavarian Regency in 1835.
Ottoman period
Rural community with references of estates and large expanses in the area belonging to Monasteries.
Late Byzantine period (13th-15th centuries)
Part of the area where Arvanites population group settled in Attica in two waves (1383-1384 and 1388-1394) with the granting of fiefs (provisions) in formerly abandoned lands.
Early Christian & Byzantine times (4th century AD-12th century AD)
Area of self-sufficient agricultural communities that embraced Christianity and built Byzantine churches.
Roman rule (1st century BC – 3rd century AD)
Economically robust area with agricultural settlements under Roman control.
Classical period (5th – 4th century BC)
Rural Attic municipality of Erchia, located just south of present-day Spata, with its administrative and religious center located at the site of Pousiri.
Archaic Period (7th – 6th century BC)
Prosperous area, as evidenced by the abundance of Archaic tombs uncovered at the site of Velanideza.
Geometric Period (1100-700 BC)
Rural area in decline compared to previous periods.
Mycenaean period (1600-1050 BC)
Flourishing and hierarchically organized settlement is located on Magoula hill, where the famous chamber tombs of Spata have been excavated.
Middle Bronze Age (2000 BC)
One of the four Mesoghian settlements along with Vravrona, Lamptres, and Sphettos.
Late Neolithic Period, Early Bronze Age
Important site of prehistoric habitation/use is located on Zagani hill.
