Kaisariani () is a suburban town and a municipality in the eastern part of the Athens agglomeration in Greece.
Geography
Kaisariani is located about southeast of the Athens city centre, and east of the Acropolis of Athens. The municipality has an area of 7.841 km2. Towards the east the municipality extends to the forested Hymettus mountain, where the 11th century Kaisariani Monastery is situated. The built-up area of Kaisariani is continuous with that of the center of Athens and the suburb Vyronas to the southwest. The main thoroughfare is Ethnikis Antistasis Avenue, which connects Kaisariani with the center of Athens and the A62 Hymettus Ring Road (formerly the A64 until 2024).
History Byzantine times The Kaisariani Monastery was established on Mount Hymettus during the Byzantine times, in the late 11th or early 12th century.Byzantine World
Asia Minor refugees
The town was founded in 1922 after the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey, as a refugee camp for refugees driven from Asia Minor, most of whom were coming from Smyrna. Formerly part of the municipality of Athens, Kaisariani was created as a separate municipality in 1933. The name was derived from Caesarea, the historical capital city of Cappadocia in Asia Minor (now Kayseri, Turkey).
World War II and the 200 of Kaisariani
During World War II, the town became a communist stronghold and earned the nickname "Little Stalingrad".
The Kaisariani rifle range is notable as the site of the execution of 200 communist Greek patriots on 1 May 1944 by the Nazi occupiers as a revenge for the death of German general Franz Krech, who had been killed by ELAS in a guerrilla ambush near Molaoi, Laconia a few days before.
In the early hours of June 17, 1944, 10 men of the EPON and guerillas of the EAM were killed, when trapped by the Nazi forces at the Monastery of Kaisariani, where they had been hiding.
Historical population
Year Population 1981 28,972 1991 26,803 2001 26,419 2011 26,458 2021 26,269
Sports Kaisariani has its own Greek A2 League basketball team, named Near East Kaisariani, which was founded in 1927. The team plays in the Near East Indoor Arena. Sport clubs based in KaisarianiClubFoundedSportsAchievementsNear East1927Basketball Panhellenic title in basketball, earlier presence in A Ethniki basketballEthnikos Asteras F.C.1927Football Earlier presence in A Ethniki
Election results Election Turnout ND PASOK SYRIZA KKE Other Jun 2023 55.72 35.90 7.18 21.20 15.26 20.46 May 2023 70.63 35.08 6.59 24.08 15.04 19.21 2019 58.60 31.48 5.58 36.55 12.16 14.23 Sep 2015 58.68 21.31 4.51 38.54 11.71 23.93 Jan 2015 66.44 22.81 3.44 38.95 11.80 23.00 Jun 2012 63.93 21.21 8.35 34.06 9.51 26.87 May 2012 67.23 9.99 9.32 23.69 16.02 40.98 2009 67.90 21.41 37.92 9.04 16.97 14.66 2007 70.53 28.58 32.83 10.32 18.82 9.45 2004 75.17 33.17 38.33 7.38 14.70 6.42 2000 78.58 30.32 42.00 7.65 14.96 5.07 1996 78.77 26.08 37.27 10.98 15.83 9.84 1993 83.06 26.55 47.19 6.99 13.56 5.71 1990 83.39 32.37 37.98 26.68 2.97 Nov 1989 83.65 30.40 39.36 28.56 1.68 Jun 1989 82.62 28.00 34.74 34.11 3.15 1985 84.40 24.96 43.92 5.22 24.85 1.05 1981 83.81 20.82 40.14 6.00 29.62 3.42 1977 84.47 26.66 22.97 9.51 28.61 12.25 1974 85.37 33.48 11.06 33.95 21.51
Notable people Themis Adamantidis, singer Christos Dantis, singer and songwriter Anna Fonsou, actress Stelios Giannakopoulos, footballer Antonis Kalogiannis, singer Evangelos Kouloumbis, politician Domna Samiou, musician
See also List of municipalities of Attica
References
External links Photos of Kaisariani City of Kaisariani official website Kesariani Online Kaisariani Theatre
Notes