"The Old Neighbourhood" Piraeus by Yank_o

I grew up in a lively neighbourhood 1km from the centre of Piraeus and just a 5-minute walk from the sea.

It is at the foot of the Prophet Elias hill, one of the two short (fully built-up) "humps" in the townscape.

This hill has traditionally been the home of the town's strong Cretan community. Around the other one (the Odegetria) is where the also important community from Mani (the southern tip of Peloponnese) has settled.

Piraeus had almost no indigenous population at the time of Greece's independence but now is home to about 200,000 people (within the municipality's limits).

We Piraeus people also talk sometimes of a Greater Piraeus (which in turn belongs to Greater Athens), having about half a million residents in total. It includes a number of municipalities mainly to the north and north-west of the peninsula that forms the core of Piraeus.

The peninsula of Piraeus has a unique shape formed by:

- The main passenger (and onetime also commercial) port in the west
- The marina at Zea a.k.a. Pasalimani
- The smaller marina (onetime fishing harbour) of Mikrolimano a.k.a. Tourkolimano
- The canal between the original coastline and the landfill area of the Peace and Friendship indoor stadium

The sea is very important for the life of Piraeus. It is not only home to the ports but also seat of Greece's Shipping Ministry, the Piraeus University (with maritime studies as a key area of study) and numerous shipping-related companies.

• Pros:Steamy; next to the sea
• Cons:Public transport could be better
• In a nutshell:More than a suburb of Athens