Euonymeia

{{Infobox settlement

|name = Euonymeia

|native_name = Ευωνύμεια

| other_name = Trachones, Ano Kalamaki

|settlement_type = Neighborhood of Alimos, Greece

|image_skyline = Geometric krater Met 14.130.15 n01.jpg

|image_caption = Krater from the Trachones workshop of Euonymeia (ca. 725 BCE) on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

| pushpin_map = Greece

| pushpin_map_caption = Location within Greece

|coordinates = {{coord|37|55|12|N|23|44|24|E|display=inline}}

| pushpin_relief =yes

| subdivision_type = Country

| subdivision_name = Greece

| subdivision_type1 = Region

| subdivision_name1 = Attica

| subdivision_type2 = Regional unit

| subdivision_name2 = South Athens

| subdivision_type3 = Municipality

| subdivision_name3 = Alimos

| established_title = Settled

| established_date = Neolithic period

| named_for = Euonymus

| postal_code_type = Postal code

| postal_code = 17 456

| area_code_type = Area code

| area_code = 210 99

}}

Euonymeia ({{langx|el|Ευωνύμεια}}, Evonímia), also known by its medieval name Trachones ({{langx|el|Τράχωνες}}), and by its modern colloquial Ano Kalamaki ({{langx|el|Άνω Καλαμάκι}}, Upper Kalamaki), is a historic settlement and currently a residential neighborhood within the suburban town of Alimos in the southern part of the Athens urban area, Greece. The area is an inland part of the south Athenian plain, situated between the foothills of Mount Hymettus and the southern coastal zone of Athens on the Saronic Gulf. The land is characterized by limestone hills and streams running from Hymettus toward the coast.

The area displays some of the earliest urban settlements in Europe, with archeological sites showing continuous development from the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. Major archeological finds include Early Helladic fortifications, Mycenaean era workshops and necropolis, a classical era amphitheater, and Paleochristian and Byzantine temples. Some of the earliest and best preserved specimens of Athenian Geometric pottery have been attributed to the Trachones workshop and are featured in museum collections, including two kraters on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

At its peak during the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, the area was the center of the Deme of Euonymos, one of the most populous communities of Ancient Athens. Euonymos had its own acropolis, theater, industrial installations, and religious festivals. Several Euonymeians played a major role in Athenian politics and civic life, most notably in the trial of Socrates and in the expeditions of the Peloponnesian War.

Etymology

The name Euonymeia is documented in the Ethnica ({{langx|el|Ἐθνικά}}), the gazetteer by 6th century CE scholar Stephanus of Byzantium, considered the earliest authoritative work on Mediterranean toponyms. Therein, Stephanus attributes the name to Euonymus of Greek Mythology –son of Gaia with either Uranus or Cephissus.{{cite book|author=Stephanus Byzantinus|author-link=Stephanus of Byzantium|title=Ethnica quae supersunt ex recensione Augusti Meinekii. - Berolini, Reimerus 1849|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=obhUAAAAcAAJ|year=1849|publisher=Reimerus|location=Berlin|language=el|page=288|quote=Ευωνύμεια πόλις Καρίας. το έθνικόν Ευωνυμεύς. ἔστι καὶ δημος Ἀθηναίων. από Ευωνύμου τοῦ Γης καὶ Ουρανοϋ ή Κηφισοῦ. 6 δημότης Ευωνυμεύς. τα τοπικά ἐξ Ευωνυμέων [είς Ευωνυμέων ἐν Ευωνυμέων] λέγεται καὶ ὁ δημος Ευώνυμος. ({{langx|en|Euonymeia city in Caria. Ethnic is Euonymeus. Is also a Deme of Athens. Derives from Euonymos of Gaia and Uranus or Kephesus. Residents of the deme are Euonymeians… the Deme is also called Euonymos.}})}}{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Helios New Encyclopedic Dictionary |title=Euonymeia or Euonymon|script-title=el:Ευωνύμεια ή Ευώνυμον |language=el |year=1960 |edition=2nd |publisher=Εγκυκλοπαιδική Επιθεώρησις 'Ηλιος |location=Athens, Greece |quote=Ευωνύμεια ή Ευώνυμον: Δήμος της αρχαίας Αττικής ανήκων εις την Ερεχθηΐδα φυλήν, κείμενος δε περί το χωρίον Τράχωνες από της θέσεως "Καρά" μέχρι της θέσεως "Γυρισμός" του Υμηττού και Αγίας Παρασκευής "Χασάνι". Κατά τινα γνώμην το νυν κτήμα Γερουλάνου εις Τράχωνες περιλαμβάνει την ακρόπολιν των Ευωνυμέων, εξ ής σώζονται ίχνη τειχών του 8ου-7ου π.Χ. αιώνος. Γειτονικοί προς τους Ευωνυμείς δήμοι ήσαν ο Αλιμούς και Αιξωνή. ({{langx|en|Euonymeia or Euonymon: Deme of ancient Attica belonging to the Erechtheis tribe, situated in the vicinity of the village Trachones from the location “Kara”, to the location “Gyrismos” of Hymettus, and “Hasani” of Aghia Paraskevi. By most accounts the current Geroulanou Estate in Trachones contains the acropolis of Euonymon, as there remain ruins of fortifications of the 8th-7th centuries BCE. Neighboring Demes to Euonymon are those of Alimos and Aexoni.}})}} The name itself derives from the Greek root-words eû ({{langx|el|εὖ}}) "good, well", and onoma ({{langx|el|όνομα}}) "name". Alternative interpretations for the origin of the name are that it is a direct reference to the area being "well named" or "of good repute", or that it comes from the spindle tree Euonymus europaeus. The medieval name Trachones{{cite book |last1=Driskos |first1=Thomas |url=http://www.biblionet.gr/book/20281/Δρίκος,_Θωμάς/Οι_πωλήσεις_των_οθωμανικών_ιδιοκτησιών_της_Αττικής_1830-1831 |title=Oi pōlḗseis tōn othōmanikṓn idioktēsiṓn tēs Attikḗs 1830–1831 |script-title=el:Οι πωλήσεις των οθωμανικών ιδιοκτησιών της Αττικής 1830–1831|language=el|year=1994 |page=125 |isbn=978-960-7022-48-6}} derives from the word trachoni ({{langx|el|τραχώνι}}) meaning "rock", derived from the ancient Greek adjective trachys ({{langx|el|τραχύς}}) meaning "coarse".{{cite web |url=http://alimos.wikispaces.com/Βυζάντιο+και+Τουρκοκρατία |title=Alimos - Βυζάντιο και Τουρκοκρατία |language=el |trans-title=Alimos - Byzantium and Turkocracy |editor-last=Kalamatianou |editor-first=Flora |author=2nd Lyceum of Alimos |work=Local History and Society of Alimos |publisher=Wikispaces by TES |date=2012-03-10 |access-date=2015-09-26 }} The modern colloquial name Ano Kalamaki (upper Kalamaki) arose in 1968 when Euonymeia was administratively linked with the coastal settlement of Kalamaki to the west, creating the contemporary Municipality of Alimos.{{cite web |url=https://troubari.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/ιστορικά-στοιχεία-για-τον-άλιμο-και-το/ |language=el |last=Karanikolas |first=Dimitris |work=Troumpari Hill |publisher=wordpress |title=Istoriká stoicheía gia ton Álimo kai ton Lópho Troumpári |script-title=el:Ιστορικά στοιχεία για τον Άλιμο και τον Λόφο Τρουμπάρι |trans-title= Historical facts on the Municipality of Alimos and Troubari Hill; Troubari Hill |access-date=2015-09-19}}

History

Systematic archeological excavation of the area has not been conducted, yet numerous construction projects during the intensive urban development of the later half of the twentieth century led to important circumstantial discoveries, which shed light on the historic timeline of the settlement.{{cite book |last1=Kaza-Papageorgiou |first1=Konstantina |title=The Ancient Astiki Odos and the Metro beneath Vouliagmenis Avenue |location=Athens, Greece |publisher=Kapon Editions |date=2015-11-30 |isbn=978-9606878947 }}

=Prehistoric and Bronze Age=

The hills of Euonymeia, together with the adjacent coastal promontory of Agios Kosmas, the ancient Akra Kolias,{{cite book|author=George Emmanuel Mylonas|title=Aghios Kosmas: An Early Bronze Age Settlement and Cemetery in Attica|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YhSBAAAAMAAJ|year=1959|publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, NJ|isbn=9780598840066}} are the two most important sites of Neolithic and Aegean Bronze Age development in the area of Athens prior to ca. 3000 BCE.{{cite book|author=Eric H. Cline|title=The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9vueDKFX8rQC|date=2012-01-12|publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK |isbn=978-0-19-987360-9|page=58}} Ceramics and obsidian tools found on both sites were identified as originating from the island of Melos,{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Ancient History |last1=Hilditch|first1=Jill|chapter=Agios Kosmas in Attica|year=2012 |doi=10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah02007 |isbn=9781444338386}} indicating close ties of these settlements with the obsidian-rich islands of the cycladic civilization. The commonality of findings in Agios Kosmas and Euonymeia suggests that the two settlements were functionally linked coastal and inland communities.{{cite web |url=http://alimos.wikispaces.com/Ανασκαφές |title=Alimos - Ανασκαφές |language=el |trans-title=Alimos - Excavations |editor-last=Kalamatianou |editor-first=Flora |author=2nd Lyceum of Alimos |work=Local History and Society of Alimos |publisher=Wikispaces by TES |date=2012-03-10 |access-date=2015-09-26 }}

The earliest signs of prehistoric settlement in Euonymeia were recognized in the 1950s and '60s at the Kontopigado site. During expansion work on the Vouliagmenis Avenue, neolithic era masonry was identified around a small hill rising {{convert|6|m|ft}} above the surrounding ground.{{cite book |last1=Kaza-Papageōrgiou |first1=Kōnstantina |last2=Kladia |first2=Margarita |trans-title=Alimos: a Greek-English edition of the city's history |chapter-url=http://www.ekdoseisalexandros.gr/product/%CE%B1%CE%BB%CE%B9%CE%BC%CE%BF%CF%83-%CE%BF%CF%88%CE%B5%CE%B9%CF%83-%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%83-%CE%B9%CF%83%CF%84%CE%BF%CF%81%CE%B9%CE%B1%CF%83-%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%83-%CF%80%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%B7%CF%83 |title=Alimos: opseis tēs historias tēs polēs kai tou dēmou |chapter=Euonymon kai Alimos |script-title=el:Άλιμος. Όψεις της ιστορίας της πόλης και του δήμου |language=el |publisher=Ekdoseis Alexandros |location=Athens, Greece |year=2006 |pages=11–151 |isbn=978-960-8092-47-1 |access-date=2015-01-23 |oclc=236102007 |archive-date=2014-08-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813051312/http://www.ekdoseisalexandros.gr/product/%CE%B1%CE%BB%CE%B9%CE%BC%CE%BF%CF%83-%CE%BF%CF%88%CE%B5%CE%B9%CF%83-%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%83-%CE%B9%CF%83%CF%84%CE%BF%CF%81%CE%B9%CE%B1%CF%83-%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%83-%CF%80%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%B7%CF%83 |url-status=dead }} In 2012, prehistoric masonry, which has yet to be dated, was recognized on the summit of Pan's Hill ({{langx|el| Λόφος Πανί|translit=Lofos Pani}}),{{cite web |url=http://www.hellenicparliament.gr/UserFiles/67715b2c-ec81-4f0c-ad6a-476a34d732bd/7726074.pdf |title=Letter to the Hellenic Parliament. Subject: "Response to question with protocol number 950/22.8.2012"|year=2012| publisher=Hellenic Parliament |location=Athens, Greece|language=el |access-date=2015-01-23 }} the highest elevation point in Euonymeia. Several thousand obsidian tool specimens have been collected from both Kontopigado, and Pan's Hill.{{cite journal |title=Archaiologika euremata Trachonon |journal=Archaiologike Ephemeris |year=1956 |last=Geroulanos |first=Ioannes |pages=73–105|language=el}} Findings from this first settlement period come to an abrupt end around 2000 BCE, indicating a catastrophic event theorized to involve Pelasgian invaders.

Excavations at construction sites adjacent to the Kontopigado mound in the 1980s and '90s led to the discovery of an Early Helladic settlement (third millennium BCE), and an overlying Mycenaean complex dated from Late Helladic IIIB to Late Helladic IIIC (ca. 1300 BCE),{{cite web |url=http://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2014/11/18/kontopigado/ |title=Kontopigado |work=Archeology & Arts |access-date=2015-01-23|date=2014-11-18 }} marking the second period of intense development in Euonymeia. A Mycenaean chamber tomb from the same Late Helladic era was identified together with funerary pottery in the current Geroulanou estate.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vfMPEAAAQBAJ&dq=Chamber+Tomb+trachones&pg=PA376 |title=Athens and Attica in Prehistory: Proceedings of the International Conference ... - Google Books |newspaper=Https |date= 30 July 2020|author= |publisher=Archaeopress Publishing |isbn=9781789696721 |access-date= August 24, 2021}}{{cite web |url=http://www.helladic.info/MAPC/pkey_report_wparam.php?place=C1550 |title=Place Key Report |newspaper=Helladic.info |date= |author= |access-date= August 24, 2021}} In 2006, work on the Alimos Metro station {{convert|300|m|ft}} South from the mound unearthed a large workshop complex{{cite book |author=Psarri, S. |chapter-url=http://gr2014.eu/sites/default/files/partIIAttica.pdf |title=Navigating the Routes of Art and Culture |chapter=40 "Alimos" Metro Station |volume=Part II – Suburbs |editor-last=Krevvata |editor-first=Vasiliki |publisher= Hellenic Ministry Of Culture And Sports Archaeological Receipts Fund - Publications Department |location=Athens, Greece |page=50 |access-date=2015-08-23 }} from the same era with installations for ceramic production, including a kiln and potters wheel.{{cite journal |title=Kontopḗgado Alímou Attikḗs. Oikismós tēs PE kai YE chrónōn kai YE ergastēriakḗ enkatástasē |script-title=el:Κοντοπήγαδο Αλίμου Αττικής. Οικισμός της ΠΕ και ΥΕ χρόνων και ΥΕ εργαστηριακή εγκατάσταση |trans-title=Kontopigado of Alimos of Attica. Settlement of EH and LH periods and LH workshop installations |journal=Archaiologike Ephemeris |language=el |year=2011 |last1=Kaza-Papageorgiou |first1=Konstantina |last2=Kardamaki |first2=Elina |last3=Koutis |first3=Panayiotis |last4=Markopoulou |first4=Efthymia |last5=Mouka |first5=Nektaria |volume=150 |pages=197–274 |url=http://www.aegeussociety.org/en/index.php/new-articles/kontopigado-alimos/ |access-date=2015-01-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927062820/http://www.aegeussociety.org/en/index.php/new-articles/kontopigado-alimos/ |archive-date=2015-09-27 |url-status=dead }} This workshop included hydraulic installations with wells and water conduits used in the processing of flax into textiles for the production of table wares, and for sails and ropes used on Mycenaean era ships. Altogether the Mycenaean complex at Kontopigado, {{convert|5|km|mi}} south of the Mycenaean Palace on the Acropolis of Athens, is one of the largest of its kind found to date.{{cite conference |last1=Gilstrap |first1=William |last2=Day |first2=Peter |last3=Kaza |first3=Konstantina |last4=Kardamaki |first4=Elina |title=Pottery Production at the Late Mycenaean site of Alimos, Attica |conference=Materials and Industries in the Mycenaean World: Current Approaches to the Study of Materials and Industries in Prehistoric Greece, University of Nottingham, 9–10 May 2013|conference-url=https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/archaeology/documents/conferences/ahrc-conference-abstracts.pdf |place=Nottingham, UK |date=2013-05-09 |pages=13–14 |quote=Recent excavations at the site of Kontopigado in Alimos, Attica have uncovered a craft production site on a grand scale, five km from the Mycenaean settlement around the Acropolis of Athens. Dating to the end of the Mycenaean period in Attica, Late Helladic IIIB to Late Helladic IIIC early, the industrial installation at Alimos is one of the largest of its kind. }} This Bronze Age community and installations at Euonymeia are thought to have had close links to the central palatial authority in Athens, possibly supplying the sails and ropes for the 50 ships that Athens is said to have contributed to the Trojan War.{{cite book|author=Homer|title=The Iliad|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HeQXAAAAYAAJ|access-date=2015-09-26|year=1876|publisher=J.B. Lippincott & Company |location=Philadelphia}}

=Geometric=

File:Geometric krater Met 14.130.15 n02.jpg krater attributed to the Trachones workshop (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)}}]]

During the Geometric period of the Hellenic Dark Ages (10th to 8th centuries BCE), the area continued to be inhabited, with notable pottery production from the Trachones workshop. Geometric era finds in Euonymeia concentrate {{convert|500|m|ft}} to the West of the Myceneaen site at Kontopigado, on a hill by the Trachones stream on the current Geroulanou Estate. While excavations have not yet been performed, the Geroulanou Estate is presumed to have been the site of the Acropolis of Euonymeia, based on surface finds of 8th - 7th century BCE fortifications. Geometric graves and pottery have been found around the estate providing evidence that unlike in Athens and neighboring communities, Euonymeia, together with Anavyssos further south, were peculiar in practicing cremation as the main burial rite during this period.{{cite book|author=J.N. Coldstream|author-link=Nicolas Coldstream|title=Geometric Greece: 900 700 BC|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FsIw4aOjw_IC|date=2003-08-28|publisher=Taylor & Francis |location=Abingdon, UK|isbn=978-0-203-42576-3|page=98}} Nonetheless, the 8th-century ceremonial Kraters attributed to the Trachones workshop and used in burial tombs throughout Geometric Greece are considered some of the best examples of Athenian Geometric Pottery that have been discovered to date.{{cite journal |title=Department of Classical Art Accessions of 1914: Geometric Vases |journal=The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin |date=1915-04-01 |last=Richter |first=Gisela |author-link=Gisela Richter |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=70–72 |issn=0026-1521|jstor=3253503 |doi=10.2307/3253503 }} In 1914, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City acquired two specimens, which are on display as part of its permanent collection of Greek and Roman Art.{{cite web |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/248905 |title=Attributed to the Trachones Workshop / Terracotta krater / Greek, Attic / Geometric / The Metropolitan Museum of Art |work=The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Collection Online |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |location=New York |access-date=2015-01-23}}

=Classical: Deme of Euonymos=

File:Trachones ancient theater 02.jpg

File:7674 - Piraeus Arch. Museum, Athens - Funerary enclosure of Mnesitheos - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, No.jpg.}}]]

The area was recognized as the site of the ancient Deme of Euonymos ({{langx|el|Δῆμος Εὐώνυμος}}) in 1975 when construction work uncovered a 4th-century BCE theater.{{cite journal |title=Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques en Grèce en 1976|trans-title=Chronicle of archaeological excavations and discoveries in Greece in 1976 |journal=Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique |year=1977 |last=Touchais |first=Gilles |language=fr |volume=101 |page=531 |url=http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/bch_0007-4217_1977_num_101_2_6565}} An inscription to the god Dionysus{{cite journal |title= Euonymos (Trachones). Inscribed seat block from the theatre.|journal=Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum |year=1982 |author1=Pleket, H.W. |author2=Stroud, R.S. |volume=32|url=http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/supplementum-epigraphicum-graecum/seg-32-272-euonymos-trachones-inscribed-seat-block-from-the-theatre-a32_272|pages=272}} identified it as the Euonymos Theater,{{cite journal |title=Trachones, Attikis |script-title=el:Τράχωνες, Αττικής |journal=Ergon |year=1980 |last=Mylonas |language=el|first=G.E. |pages=24–25}}{{cite journal |title=Trachones |script-title=el:Τράχωνες |journal=Ergon |year=1981 |language=el|last=Mylonas |first=G.E. |pages=44–45}}{{cite book |chapter-url=http://gr2014.eu/sites/default/files/partIIAttica.pdf |title=Navigating the Routes of Art and Culture |chapter=41 Ancient Theater of Evonymon |volume=Part II – Suburbs |editor-last=Krevvata |editor-first=Vasiliki |author=Psarri, S. |publisher= Hellenic Ministry Of Culture And Sports Archaeological Receipts Fund |location=Athens, Greece|page=51 |access-date=2015-08-23 }} previously known only from ancient texts as one of the Deme Theaters of Athens. The theater at Euonymos was constructed in the mid 5th century BCE (making it one of the earliest known Deme theaters) with Hymettian Marble from quarries in nearby Mount Hymettus. It had an estimated capacity of 2000–3000 spectators and is unique among ancient theaters found in Greece owing to the rectangular shape of its orchestra.{{cite journal |title=Deme Theaters in Attica and the Trittys System |journal=Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens |year=2010 |last=Page |first=Jessica |volume=73 |issue=3 |pages=351–384 |jstor=40981054 |url=http://www.ascsa.edu.gr/index.php/publications/hesperia/article/79/3/351-384 |doi=10.2972/hesp.79.3.351 |s2cid=151965994 }} The theatre was destroyed during the Chremonidean War of the 260s BCE and never rebuilt. Two headless statues of Dionysus were found on the site of the theater, and together with the discovery in 2012 of Dionysian depictions on Red-figure pottery from the area,{{cite book |last1=Chatzidimitriou |first1=Athena |chapter-url=http://www.biblionet.gr/book/182142/Συλλογικό_έργο/Κεραμέως_παίδες |title=Keraméōs paídes |script-title=el:Κεραμέως παίδες|chapter=Red-figured Chous with a Dionysian Scene from Argyroupoli, Athens |editor-last=Κεφαλίδου|language=el |editor-first=Ευρυδίκη |editor2-last=Τσιαφάκη |editor2-first=Δέσποινα |year=2012 |page=125 |isbn=978-960-89087-2-7 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230908000750/https://www.academia.edu/1871714 |archive-date=2023-09-08 }} and undated finds from the Kontopigado site of clay figures seemingly representing Maenades, the rabid female companions of Dionysus, suggest a possible early affiliation of Euonymeia with the Cult of Dionysus and Pan.{{cite book |title=A new group of figures and rare figurines from a Mycenaean workshop installation at Kontopigado, Alimos (Athens) |journal=Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Athenische Abteilung |date=2012-01-12 |last=Kardamaki |first=Eleftheria |volume=127/128 |isbn=978-3-7861-2737-6 |url=http://reimer-mann-verlag.de/controller.php?cmd=detail&titelnummer=302737&verlag=3 |access-date=2016-05-03 |quote=Among the finds from the fills the fragments of unique or very rare figurine types and figures deserve special attention. Anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures represent objects that are primarily connected with official cult activities, and their presence would suggest the existence of one or more cult places in the direct vicinity of the installation. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508090605/http://reimer-mann-verlag.de/controller.php?cmd=detail&titelnummer=302737&verlag=3 |archive-date=2016-05-08 |url-status=dead }}

The town was on the Urban Way ({{langx|el|Αστική Ὁδός|translit=Astiki Hodós}}), the major ancient road linking Athens to the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion, and the all-important silver mines at Laurium. Remains of the Urban Way have been unearthed in multiple sites along the modern Vouliagmenis Avenue, positioning this ancient thoroughfare adjacent to the most important installations in Euonymos.{{cite news |url=http://www.tovima.gr/society/article/?aid=723864 |script-title=el:Αρχαίος δρόμος στην παραλία του Μεγάλου Καβουριού |language=el |trans-title=Ancient road along the coast of Megalo Kavouri |newspaper=to Vima |location=Athens, Greece |author= |publisher=Lambrakis Press Group |date=2015-07-20 |access-date=2015-09-28 |quote=... "Αστική Οδό" που συνέδεε την Αθήνα με το Σούνιο. Η κεντρική αυτή αρτηρία των παράλιων δήμων Αλιμούντος, Ευωνύμου, Αιξωνής και Αιξωνίδων Αλών έχει ανασκαφεί τμηματικά. ({{langx|en|”Urban Way” that connected Athens with Sounion. This central artery of the seaside Demes of Alimos, Euonymon, Aexoni, and Aexonidon Alon has been excavated in segments}})}} The old Mycenaean hydraulic installations {{convert|300|m|ft}} Northeast of the theater show continued use through the classical era. In this period, water flowing through the installations from the Trachones stream and wells were used primarily for agriculture, stockbreeding, and cottage industries. The hill with Geometric-era fortifications on the Geroulanou Estate {{convert|300|m|ft}} Northwest of the theater is thought to have been the site of the Acropolis of Euonymos. Construction in the 1960s and work on the Argyroupoli Metro station {{convert|1.5|km|mi}} South of the theater in 2003 uncovered a cemetery at the Hasani site with over 150 graves dating from the 7th to the 4th centuries BCE,{{cite news |url=http://www.kathimerini.gr/160003/article/politismos/arxeio-politismoy/oi-arxaiologikoi-8hsayroi-toy-ellhnikoy |title=Οι αρχαιολογικοί θησαυροί του Ελληνικού |language=el |trans-title=The archeological treasures of Elliniko |work=Kathimerini |publisher=Giannis Alafouzos |location=Athens, Greece |date=2003-08-24 |access-date=2015-09-28 }} and inscriptions identifying it as the cemetery of the Deme of Euonymos.{{cite book |author=Psarri, S. |chapter-url=http://gr2014.eu/sites/default/files/partIIAttica.pdf |title=Navigating the Routes of Art and Culture |chapter=42 "Argyroupoli" Metro Station |volume=Part II – Suburbs |editor-last=Krevvata |editor-first=Vasiliki |publisher= Hellenic Ministry Of Culture And Sports Archaeological Receipts Fund - Publications Department |location=Athens, Greece |page=53 |access-date=2015-08-23 }} Together, these findings conclusively position the center and extent of the classical Deme of Euonymos as a continuation of the early Euonymeia settlements.

The Deme of Euonymos was designated as one of the 139 Athenian Demes by the Reform of Cleisthenes. Euonymos was an "urban" (asty) deme of the Erechtheis tribe, the first in the hierarchy of the Athenian democracy as descending from Erechtheus, the autochthonous founder of Athens. The Deme contributed 10 bouleutai (increased to 12 in 306 BCE) to the 500 member-strong Boule, and as such was one of Athens' largest demes.Wiles, David, Tragedy in Athens: Performance Space and Theatrical Meaning Several Euonymeians were notable public officials in Ancient Athens, such as Hieropoios Eunomos of Euonymon, and high-ranking military figures associated with the Peloponnesian Wars, including Taxiarch Strombichides, Nauarch Diotimos of Euonymon, and Strategoi Autocles and Anytus, the latter also known as a main prosecutor in the trial of Socrates.{{cite book|author=Robert Develin|title=Athenian Officials 684-321 BC|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cmoRFMTAu-0C|date=2003-10-30|publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK|isbn=978-0-521-52646-3}}

File:1815 Thomson Map of Attica (Anthens and Vicinity) Greece - Geographicus - Attica-t-1814.jpg cartographer John Thomson, indicating the village of Traconi in Ottoman Attica}}]]

=Medieval=

Euonymeia declined in medieval times together with Athens after Christian reforms brought on the Decline of Greco-Roman polytheism. At some point during this time the settlement's name changed to the village of Trachones. Nonetheless, it retained urban settlement throughout the Early Christian and Byzantine eras as testified by the ruins of the Paleochristian Basilica of the Holy Apostles (ca. 7th-9th centuries CE) that can be found {{convert|200|m|ft}} North of Euonymos Theater in the courtyard of the contemporary Church of the Life-giving Spring of Trachones.{{cite web |url=http://www.alimosonline.gr/αναμνήσεις/6699-η-ιστορία-του-ιερού-ναού-της-ζωοδόχου-πηγής-τραχώνων |title=Τα αρχαία που υπάρχουν στην αυλή του Ιερού Ναού της Ζωοδόχου Πηγής |language=el |trans-title=The ruins of the courtyard of the holy temple of the Life-giving Spring |work=Alimos Online |date=2015-04-20 |access-date=2015-09-26 }}

During the later Middle Ages, Athens was conquered by the Fourth Crusade, which established the 13th-century crusader state of the Duchy of Athens. During this time, in defiance of the Roman Catholic allegiance to the Frankish lord of Athens Othon de la Roche, the Orthodox church of the "Presentation of Mary of Trachones" (Greek: Εισοδίων Θεοτόκου Τραχώνων, Isodíon Theotókou Trachónon) was constructed {{convert|300|m|ft}} West of the Euonymos Theater. This church is currently in operation within the grounds of the Geroulanou Estate, making it one of the oldest continuously operational churches in Athens.{{cite web |url=http://isodiatrachones.blogspot.gr/p/blog-page_6820.html |script-title=el:Εισόδια Θεοτόκου- Κτήμα Τράχωνες: ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΝΑΟΥ |language=el|access-date=2015-08-22}}

After the invasion of Greece by the Ottoman Turks, the area of Trachones was turned into a Chiflik, and administered according to the Ottoman feudal system, with the local population becoming mandatory land peasants (koligoi). The church of the Presentation of Mary appears to remain the center of the area's civic life in the following centuries of Ottoman rule.

=19th and 20th centuries=

Modern written use of the toponym Trachones appears right before the Greek Revolution in an 1820 tax record of villages in Attica, while its location, corresponding to the area of Euonymeia, is revealed in 19th century maps, including John Thomson's 1814 map of Attica (therein labeled as Traconi),{{cite map |author=Thomson, John |title=Attica. Turkish dominions in Europe. E. Mitchell sculpt. Drawn and engraved for Thomson's New general atlas, 1815.|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1815_Thomson_Map_of_Attica_(Anthens_and_Vicinity)_Greece_-_Geographicus_-_Attica-t-1814.jpg |year=1817|series=30 |publisher= Edinburgh: John Thomson; London: Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy; Dublin: John Cumming |page=25 |location= Greece ; Turkey |ref=P731; Newberry Library: Ayer +135 T4 1817. |access-date=2015-08-22}} and an 1881 map from the German Archeological Institute. During the preceding years, the Trachones Estate, corresponding to a large part of what is now South Athens, was sold to Mufti Hamza, an 18th-century Muslim religious leader of Athens. Records show that the feudal estate had a small population of landless farmers, and that ownership passed on through the Mufti's progeny. In 1912, the settlement of Trachones was incorporated into the Municipality of Athens, while the land of the estate was sold in 1918 by the Greek State to the Geroulanou family for 680,000 drachma. In 1952, a large part of the estate was converted from farm to urban plots, including land for the creation of the Hellenicon Airport.{{cite web |access-date=2015-08-22 |url=http://isodiatrachones.blogspot.gr/p/blog-page_7395.html |script-title=el:Εισόδια Θεοτόκου- Κτήμα Τράχωνες: ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΚΤΗΜΑΤΟΣ ΤΡΑΧΩΝΩΝ|language=el}} This led to a rapid urbanization following the expanding urban sprawl of the Greek capital,{{cite book|author=William Hardy McNeill|title=The Metamorphosis of Greece Since World War II|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CnOXQAAACAAJ|date=1978-01-01|publisher=Blackwell |location=Malden, MA |isbn=978-0-631-19790-4}} and to the establishment of the current residential community. In 1968 the modern Municipality of Alimos was established, administratively linking the community of Trachones with the coastal community of Kalamaki {{convert|2.5|km|mi}} to the West, giving rise to the term Ano Kalamaki (upper Kalamaki) to refer to the area of Euonymeia.{{cite journal |script-title=el:Εφημερίς της Κυβερνήσεως |title=Government Gazette, Issue 1, Volume 163|page=1162|quote=Αι Κοινότητες Ελληνικού και Καλαμακίου εν τη Επαρχία και τω Νομώ Αττικής ενουνται και αναγνωρίζονται εις δήμον υπό το όνομα “Δήμος Αλίμου” με περιφέρειαν την των κοινοτήτων τούτων και έδραν τον συνοικισμόν “Καλαμάκιον”. ({{langx|en|The communities of Hellenikon and Kalamakion in the province and prefecture of Attica are merged and recognized as a municipality under the name “Municipality of Alimos” with the extent of these communities and seat in the community of “Kalamakion”.}})|date=1968-07-24 |journal=Government Gazette (Greece)|volume=163 |issue=a |language=el }}

Geography

The neighborhood is approximately bounded by the avenues of Vouliagmenis in the East, Ionias in the North and West, and Alimou in the South, and includes the "Alimos" Metro station.{{cite map |title=Google Maps Trachones |map=Google Maps Places: Trachones, Alimos, Greece |url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Trachones,+Alimos+174+56,+Greece/ |inset=Trachones |edition=map data 2015 Google |publisher=Google Maps |location=Mountain View, CA |access-date=2015-09-26 }} The area is rocky, a feature that gave it its medieval name, Trachones. The main physical features of Euonymeia are several small limestone hills, the largest of which is Pan's Hill (Lofos Pani), and the Trachones stream that runs from the Western slopes of Hemyttus, through Euonymeia, to the Saronic Gulf at Alimos beach. Mount Hymettus to the East is the dominant backdrop visible from most areas of the neighborhood.{{cite web |url=http://alimos.wikispaces.com/Εξωτερικοί+χώροι |title=Alimos - Εξωτερικοί χώροι |language=el |trans-title=Alimos - Outdoor spaces |editor-last=Kalamatianou |editor-first=Flora |author=2nd Lyceum of Alimos |work=Local History and Society of Alimos |publisher=Wikispaces by TES |date=2012-04-23 |access-date=2015-09-26 }}

File:Hymettus viewed from Trachones.jpg viewed from the Trachones Stream near the grounds of the 2nd Lyceum of Alimos in Euonymeia}}]]

Civic life

Euonymeia is largely a residential area, with small shops and businesses along Ionias and Dodecanesou avenues. The central public space of the community stretches along the path of the Trachones stream, most of which now runs underground. This area features Karaiskakis square and park, which includes the "Klouva" outdoor public basketball court,{{cite press release |url=http://www.alimos.gov.gr/el-gr/News.aspx?ElementId=8cb8a755-b97d-4d84-bd3b-3b1481ad8bf2 |title="Λίφτινγκ" στα γήπεδα μπάσκετ του Αλίμου |language=el |trans-title="Face lift" for the basketball courts of Alimos |work=Alimos.gov.gr - Current Events - Athletics |location=Alimos, Greece |publisher=Municipality of Alimos |agency=Alimos.gov.gr |date=2015-09-17 |access-date=2015-09-26 |archive-date=2015-10-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151027043319/http://www.alimos.gov.gr/el-gr/News.aspx?ElementId=8cb8a755-b97d-4d84-bd3b-3b1481ad8bf2 |url-status=dead }} and the municipal amphitheater, where the major community events take place. Adjacent to the square is a large school complex with two public elementary schools, and the 2nd Lyceum of Alimos public high school.{{cite map |title=Δημοτικός Χάρτης Αλίμου |language=el |trans-title=Municipal Map of Alimos |url=http://www.alimos.gov.gr/Upload/map_alimos.pdf |format=PDF |date=2003-12-03 |inset=Trachones |edition=2003 Municipal Archives |publisher=Municipality of Alimos |location=Alimos, Greece |access-date=2015-09-26}} Next to the school complex is the Municipal Indoor Gymnasium of Trachones with a capacity for 350 seated spectators, the home court of the three local Basketball teams Trachones - Dias Union, A.L.F. Alimos, A.O. Kalamaki, and the Trachones Volleyball team. Along the same axis next to the Geroulanou Estate is Trachones Field ({{langx|el|Γήπεδο Τραχώνων}}, Gipedo Trachonon), a 457-seat track and field stadium that is the seat of the local soccer team, FC Trachones.{{cite web |url=http://www.epsath.gr/field/display_field.php?field_id=13 |title=ΕΠΣ Αθηνών: Γήπεδο Τραχώνων Αλίμου Α΄ |language=el |trans-title=Football Club Union of Athens: Trachones Field of Alimos A' |work=Football Club Union of Athens: Stadiums |publisher=Ένωση Ποδοσφαιρικών Σωματείων Αθηνών |location=Athens |access-date=2015-09-26}}{{cite web |url=https://int.soccerway.com/teams/greece/as-trachones/20581/venue/ |title=Greece - Athlitikos Omilos Trachones Alimos - Results, fixtures, squad, statistics, photos, videos and news - Soccerway |access-date=2015-09-26}}