INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION FOR ARCHITECTS UP TO STUDENT HOUSING 35 HISTORICAL AND URBAN PLANNING DEVELOPMENT OF KERAMEIKOS UP TO 35 INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION 1 HISTORICAL AND URBAN PLANNING DEVELOPMENT OF KERAMEIKOS CONTENTS EARLY ANTIQUITY ......................................................................................................................... p.2-3 CLASSICAL ERA (478-338 BC) .................................................................................................. p.4-5 The municipality of Kerameis POST ANTIQUITY ........................................................................................................................... p.6-7 MIDDLE AGES ................................................................................................................................ p.8-9 RECENT YEARS ........................................................................................................................ p.10-22 A. From the establishment of Athens as capital city of the neo-Greek state until the end of 19th century. I. The first maps of Athens and the urban planning development II. The district of Metaxourgeion • Inclusion of the area in the plan of Kleanthis-Schaubert • The effect of the proposition of Klenze regarding the construction of the palace in Kerameikos • Consequences of the transfer of the palace to Syntagma square • The silk mill factory and the industrialization of the area • The crystallization of the mixed suburban character of the district B. 20th century I. The reformation projects of Athens and the urban planning development II. The district of Metaxourgeion • District character and land uses • Gradual degradation of the area C. Metaxourgeion as a modern day district • Demographic aspects • Structured environment • Ownership regime • Land uses • Problems of the district • New prospects UP TO 35 INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION 2 HISTORICAL AND URBAN PLANNING DEVELOPMENT OF KERAMEIKOS EARLY ANTIQUITY During the Latter Neolithic Age (4500-3200 BC), Athens was inhabited by a permanently settled population occupying homes and caves around Acropolis while, in case of danger, they used the peak of the sheer rock as a refuge. The reign of indigenous Kekrops, who united the first twelve municipali- ties of Attica, resulting in the division of the inhabitants into four tribes, is dated around the time of transition from Early (3200-2000 BC) to Middle Bronze Age (2000-1600 BC). The most significant, powerful and entrenched of the above towns was that of Kekropia, located at the future area of Athens. Traces of inhabitation have been discovered at the hill of Acropolis, at the area around the hill up to Ilissos, where the Agora would lie thereafter, and also at the area of the Academy and the hill of Strefi. The discovery of individual tombs and other artifacts in Kerameikos signifies that the area was used as burial ground. The arrival of the Ionians has been dated around the Mycenaean age (1600-1150 BC), who were responsible for the restructuring of the racial segregation of Attica, based on professional occupa- tion. The plural in the name of the city, i.e. Athinai, is attributed to the structuring of the population into towns, komai. During the reign of king Thesseus, the power of local rulers governing the twelve municipalities of Attica was disrupted and their residents were united, forming a common city, with the establishment of the Prytaneion in Athens. The peak of the rock and at least the Southern slope were occupied by the sovereign and the ruling class. As of the 14th century BC the town was greatly developed, which is assumed due to the discovery of cemeteries located at great distances from each other. The area surrounded by the hills of Agoraeos Kolonos, Areopagus, Nymphs and Muses to the West, by the hill of Sicily to the South, the Agora to the North, Ilissos to the East and Acropolis, was not occupied by a uniform town, but by individual settlements having their central core on the rock and its southern slope. At the 13th century BC, Athens entered its most significant period of development in the pre-historic period. The area remained the same, however at the peak of the rock the Mycenaean palace was erected, and the rock was later entrenched with the construction of a powerful cyclopean wall, the Pelargic or Pelasgic wall. Thucydides (II, 15, 6) reports that, during that period, Acropolis was called polis (city), while the lower town was called asty (town). The progress was interrupted in early 12th century BC, when there was a demographic shrinkage, reflected in the abandonment of residential areas and burial grounds. The fall of the Mycenaean culture did affect Athens, although, according to tradition, the Athenians were indigenous as they were never conquered by the Dorian tribes, and the Athenians of the historic ages were Ionians. However, the end of Mycenaean Athens coincided with the fall of the other centers and it is during that era that the roots of the future constitution of the independent city-state should be sought. Residential remnants from the Sub-Mycenaean and Protogeometric period (1150-900 BC) have been found in the north and north-western foothills of Areopagus, which infers an expansion of the district towards the Agora, which began to be constantly inhabited and used as burial ground. During that period, two cemeteries were developed in the area of Kerameikos at a distance of approxi- mately 200 meters away from each other. The first cemetery reaches from the western side of Dipylon until the Hiera gate and the second is located to the west along Piraeus street, from Salaminas street until Kolokynthous street. During the Geometric period (900-700 BC) there was a movement towards the coast, resulting in the countryside being more heavily populated than Athens, despite the overall increase of the population of Attica. At the end of the 8th century BC the progress was interrupted, a fact possibly attributed to a dry spell accompanied by plague, which resulted in high fatality levels. During the 8th century BC the city-state was established, as a result of a long process of social-political changes which essentially be- gan after the fall of the Mycenaean palace. The areas at the south of Acropolis until the Olympeion and at the north until Piraeus street were inhabited, while the areas between Areopagus and Ancient Agora were more densely populated. At the area of Plato’s Academy several remnants of houses have been UP TO 35 INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION 3 HISTORICAL AND URBAN PLANNING DEVELOPMENT OF KERAMEIKOS found, together with a sacred residence. Burials were traced at the north-western foothills of Acropolis and Areopagus, at the Agora and Agoraeus Kolonos. A large number of tombs were disclosed in the area of Kerameikos, while at the northern and southern sides of Eridanos, at External Kerameikos, a large cemetery was revealed. The Archaic period (700-478 BC) is characterized by the intense social-political upheavals due to the discontent towards aristocracy. The political reformations instituted by Dracon and Solon were not enough to balance the conflicts, resulting in the rise of Peisistratos to power through a coup d’ etat in 561 BC. Tyranny endured almost throughout the 6th century BC until 508/7 BC, when Kleisthenes at- tempted to disrupt the local interests and the bonds between the families of landholders. Kleisthenes divided Attica into three geographic districts: the City (Asty), the Shore (Paralia) and the Midland (Me- sogaia); and into thirty tritteis, consisting of ten municipalities from each district. One tritty of municipali- ties from each district, i.e. three tritteis in total, comprised a tribe, which were ten in total. The period ends with the repellence of Persian invasions in 480/79 BC, which began on occasion of the support of the Athenians to the rebellious cities of Ionia and the firing of Sardes. The Persian invasions ruined the buildings of Athens, however the success of the Athenians offered them authority and recognition, an inheritance which gave a boost to the development of their city in the Classical era. During the Early Archaic period (7th century BC), the Agora of Thesseus is continuously developed and occupies an area to the East and Northeast of Acropolis, while the most heavily populated area must have been to the South, Southeast and East of Acropolis. During the 6th century BC Acropolis which, during the previous century, had a very small number of buildings, was converted into a sanctu- ary and was dedicated to the worship of Athena Polias, protector of the city. Around 600 BC, during the reign of Solon, the great square at the northwest side of the rock began to be formed with the prospect of having the Agora transferred there, an obvious location due to the existence of pre-existing major roads. Around the middle of 6th century BC, Peisistratos and his sons supplemented the Agora with new buildings and the public area was gradually expanded towards the east and south, while at the end of the century even more political and administrative activities were concentrated there. The most heavily populated area of the city was now located at the north of Areopagus, while the area between Agora and Plato’s Academy was more scarcely populated. Since the 6th century BC the burial grounds were placed on either side of big arterial roads, as all burials within the city walls had been banned for the avoidance of contamination and loss of useful space. The exact location of the archaic walls is unknown, however