Heliopolis, my hometown
The 5th Graders of the 10th Heliopolis Primary School present a brief history and a collection of sights typical of our hometown, Heliopolis.
Heliopolis is built at the feet of Mount Hymettus
Heliopolis is a beautiful suburb of Athens, in the South East part of Attica. It is 6 kilometres away from the center of Athens. Its name, Heliopolis, is a compound word consisting of ‘helios’ and ‘polis’ which mean sun and city in Greek respectively. Therefore, Heliopolis is “the City of the Sun” with the sun rising behind the mountain Hymettus.
Major points in the History of Heliopolis In Greek mythology, one of the sons of Uranus(Greek word for sky) and Gaia (Greek word for earth) founded Heliopolis (Sun City). At the beginning of the 20th century Cretan Paul Dranakis, founder and ‘Godfather’ of Heliopolis, came to Greece from Egypt. He bought 12,000 acres of land from the previous landowner and built Heliopolis using the urban plan of ancient Heliopolis, a suburb of Cairo, where Dandrakis lived as a young man. In 1923, after the Asia Minor Catastrophe in 1922, multitudes of Greek refugees from Asia Minor settled in Heliopolis.
Major points in the History of Heliopolis In 1927 advertisements for the sale of pieces of land in Heliopolis started to appear in newspapers. In 1928 Heliopolis constituted an administrative division similar to a village. In 1933 the first local newspaper was issued. In 1934 administrative organisation was primitive and facilities were scarce. There was no electric power. There was no water supply system and people had to drain water from wells. Heliopolis was part of the wilderness. Neighborouhood streets were dusty particularly in the summer due to lack of rain. People lived in one-room mud brick houses and they were so close to nature they would run into foxes in their yards!!!
In February 1964 Heliopolis constituted a municipality.
Population of Heliopolis grew over time In 1928, 569 people lived in Heliopolis In 1930, 3.911 In 1951, 8.052 In 1961, 27.638 In 1971, 49.275 In 1981, 69.560 In 1991, 75.037 In 2002, 95.673
Rema Pikrodafnis
(Oleander Watercourse) Heliopolis
Rema Prikrodafnis (translated into English as Oleander Watercourse) is an outlet of rain water to the sea that runs from the Hymettus mountain through Heliopolis and other parts of South Attica towards the Saronic Gulf. It is 9,310 meters long and is one of the few watercourses still left in Attica mainly due to overbuilding in recent years.
Rema Pikrodafnis (Oleander Watercourse) The Oleander Watercourse was named after oleander, a Mediterranean evergreen shrub characteristic of watercourses, gravely places, and damp slopes. It is widely grown in the area because of the temperate climate. The name of the watercourse (Pikrodafni:Oleander) goes back to Ancient times when the watercourse was called Nerion. Nerium is the scientific name for oleander in Latin.
Photos by Kirolos
Rema Pikrodafnis Apart from being a natural flood system as most watercourses, Rema Pikrodafnis is a remarkable ecosystem. In terms of flora, it covers 100 acres of thick vegetation ranging from bushes and reeds to eucalyptus and pine trees. In terms of fauna, there are frogs, toads, hedgehogs, tortoises and birds of all kinds.
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Public Spaces and Sights In Heliopolis, there are schools, banks, parks, squares, a post office, a public swimming pool, a public football field, a public library, a road safety education center, a museum and an open-air theatre
Municipal Swimming Pool & Soccer Field
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Municipal Library
Photos by Nikoletta
In 1956 the Public Library of Heliopolis operated in the form of an association dependent mainly on donations and members’ subscriptions. In 1956 it was officially founded by the Municipality. In 1993 it merged with the Cultural Center into a single Public Entity. The library's collection numbers about 17,000 volumes and covers the following categories: Greek and Foreign Literature, History, Ancient Greek Literature, Philosophy, Psychology, Education, Social Sciences, Information Technology, Business Administration, Religion, Mythology, Sports, Travel, Arts, Drama , Encyclopedias and Dictionaries. Additional features include a remarkable collection of books for children and teenagers, as well as magazines and local press.
Municipal Road Safety Education Center
The centre is a fully enclosed park with a miniroad setup. Complete with miniature traffic lights, two-lane roads, roundabouts and pedestrian crossings children love riding their bikes while practising roadsafety skills. The park is open to the public daily.Â
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Photos by Dimitra
Town Hall The Town Hall is a big five-storey building in the centre of the town. There is a theatre in its basement and a special hall for civil weddings. There is also a spacious parking lot. The space around the building is decorated with flowers and green bushes.
National Resistance Museum In 1982 the lot where the building of the museum stands today is characterised as public property. In 1998 the building is completed. In 2010 the Museum for the commemoration of National Resistance is inaugurated. Permanent as well as thematic exhibitions of National Resistance documents and historic material of the 40’s such as objects, photos, etc are hosted
Kintis Open-Air Theatre Kintis Open-Air Theatre or Dimitris Kintis Municipal Theatre of the Grove is an open-air theatre built in the grove at the feet of Mount Hymettus and it is surrounded by trees and flowers. In the old days the whole area where the theatre now stands was a rocky part of the mountain. The theatre was named in honour of Dimitris Kintis who served as Mayor of Heliopolis from 1979 until 1990. Click on the link http://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=0a411a1cd096 to play an online jigsaw puzzle
In 1958 the Cathedral of Heliopolis was built. At that time, the church, which is dedicated to Virgin Mary, stood out in the whole area of short buildings. Click on the link http://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=08191e91ec2b to play an online jigsaw puzzle
The church dedicated to saints, Aghios Konstantinos and Aghia Eleni, is the main church in the part of Heliopolis where our school is located. Click on the link http://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=38fb03e021c7 to play an online jigsaw puzzle
Aghios Nikolaos Square
Aghios Nikolaos Church
The church dedicated to Aghios Nikolaos is a very humble building which, however, is of major historical importance because the square named after the church is considered to be the nucleus from which the town of Heliopolis emerged.
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Fleming Square • •
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Night happening at Fleming Square
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Fleming Square is one of the biggest and busiest squares in Heliopolis. Around the square there are pizza parlors, coffee shops and tavernas that serve a popular Greek dish, souvlaki. There are many flowers and trees. There is also a statue in the east part of the square where authorities usually honour those who fought in past wars for the freedom of the Greek people. The square was named after Ian Fleming, the doctor who discovered the penicillin.
Kanaria Square The square was probably named after a pet shop in this area which purchased canaries! The official name of the square is Yorgos Karaiskakis Square. Yorgos Karaiskakis is a national hero that fought in the Greek Revolution in 1821. It is a beautiful place because there are a lot of trees and flowers. There are banks, shops and blocks of flats around the square.
IKA Square Palaion Patron Germanos Square is situated beetwen the Social Security building and the Road Safety Education Park. Locals usually refer to it by saying ‘IKA Square’ because of the Social Security building which lies on the west part of the square.
Photos by Dimitra
IKA Square
The official name of the square is Palaion Patron Germanos Square in honour of a national hero, a high-ranked priest who supported the Greek Cause as a diplomat in the 19th century Greek Revolution. In the square, there are trees, flowers, grass and benches for people to sit on. There is also the statue of a Greek heroine.
Photos by Dimitra
Iro Konstantopoulou, was born on July 16th, 1927 and was executed on September 5th, 1944 at the age of 17. Iro Konstantopoulou was thirteen years old when the Germans invaded Greece. Despite her young age, she joined National Resistance. When she was arrested for the first time, her rich father managed to set her free. A little while before Germans’ retreating from Greece, Iro participated in blowing up a train which was transporting ammunition. She was arrested again but this time no one could save her. She was executed at the Chaidari concentration camp along with fortynine other prisoners.
Photos by Dimitra
The Statue of a Heroine
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National Resistance Square
In 1955 the central square of Heliopolis was a village street!!! Today the square is spacious decorated with a fountain and quite a number of flowers and trees. Around the square there are many coffee shops.
National Resistance Square There is also a playground with swings, slides, see-saw. The official name of the central square is National Resistance Square and is located above the National Resistance Museum. National Resistance refers to the struggle of the Greek people against invading armies during the World War II
Heliopolis, by night overlooking the Central Square and the Saronic Gulf
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We would like to thank: • Professor Vozikas, Researcher for the Hellenic Folklore Research Center-Academy of Athens (http://www.kentrolaografias.gr/ ), for his lecture on Heliopolis which provided us with most of the information used in this presentation as well as with the main framework for our work • Municipality of Heliopolis and Deputy Mayor for Education, Mr Kostas Papadopoulos, for the Educational Programme on Heliopolis «Ερευνώ-μαθαίνω-ανακαλύπτω την πόλη μου»/”Research, Learn about, Discover my Hometown” • Deputy Mayor for Quality of Life Mr Kostas Seftelis for his assistance in attending the lecture Project Teacher, Natalia Tzitzi and the 5th Graders of the 10th Heliopolis Primary School
Texts were written by Fifth Graders: George D. Joanna Z. Stathis Alexandra Vassiliki Mike Christo Eric Spyridoula Joanna P. Dimitra Dimitris George T. Nikiphoros Christine Iphigenia
Vagelis Petros Mary Agelos Varvara Yannis K. Irena Marianne Orestes Vasilis Photini Joseph Nikoletta Kirolos Yannis S. Thymios George-Raphael