Kamatero

Kamatero
Καματερό

Seal

Kamatero

Location within Athens

Coordinates: 38°3.583′N 23°42.717′E / 38.059717°N 23.711950°ECoordinates: 38°3.583′N 23°42.717′E / 38.059717°N 23.711950°E

Country

Greece

Administrative region

Agioi Anargyroi-Kamatero

• Municipal unit

5.950 km² (2.297 sq mi)

Highest elevation

230 m (750 ft)

Population (2011)

• Municipal unit

28,361

• Municipal unit density

4,800/km² (12,000/sq mi)

Time zone

EET (UTC+2)

• Summer (DST)

EEST (UTC+3)

Postal code

13451

Area code(s)

210

Vehicle registration

Zxx

Kamatero (Greek: Καματερó [kamateˈro]; officially Καματερόν) is a suburb northwest of Athens, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Agioi Anargyroi-Kamatero, of which it is a municipal unit. It is located about 8 kilometres north of Athens city centre.

Although the oldest known archaeological finds in Kamatero date to the 4th century BC, the area west of Athens is known to have been inhabited since at least the Bronze Age. Specifically, a Mycenaean tholos tomb has been found in the neighbouring municipality of Acharnai. In classical times, the area of modern Kamatero was under the authority of the polis of Athens. According to Traill, the area of Kamatero was the location of the ancient deme of Eupyridae.

Possibly the oldest archaeological find in Kamatero is an ancient wall on the ridge of Mt. Aigaleos above the modern settlement. As described by McCredie, the wall is 0,60 to 0,90 m. thick, and "seldom preserved to the height of half a metre". McCredie considers it to be a military fieldwork, and, given that it runs to the southeast of the ridge's crest, deems it to be meant as a defence towards that direction, i.e. the direction of Athens. Thus, and also due to "its extremely light construction", he concludes that it was built as a temporary defence for a force invading Athens. He notes that "it might represent the last easily defencible point before entering the plain of Athens itself". McCredie speculates that the wall was built to block the relatively easy route through Mt. Aigaleos (and on towards Eleusis and Boeotia) that passes at that point. As far as the dating of the wall is concerned, McCredie concedes that it is impossible to be independently dated. However, he believes it was built on the occasion of the same invasion as two other walls in Attica: one in the Thriasian plain, and another, more famous one (known as the Dema) bridging the gap between Mt. Aigaleos and Mt. Parnes. The Dema can be independently dated to the second half of the 4th century BC, or possibly the first half of the 3rd. Thus, McCredie considers it likely that the Kamatero wall also dates to the 4th or 3rd century BC.

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Wikipedia