Piraeus is a city in Attica, Greece, which is considered to be within the vicinity of the Athenian municipality, located just 9 km south-west of the center of Athens. It is the capital of the Piraeus Prefecture and belongs to the Athens general urban area, being the s
econd most populous municipality of the Greek capital, following Athens. It was the port of the ancient city of Athens and was chosen to serve as the modern port when the city re-emerged as the Greek capital in 1834. Piraeus is one of the largest ports in Europe, while securing the spot of the largest port in the Eastern Mediterranean. Piraeus is considered to be the third largest port in the world in terms of passenger transportation, servicing 19,000,000 passengers annually. The population of the municipality of Piraeus is 175,697. The prefecture of Piraeus, which includes the surrounding land and some of the islands of the Saronic Gulf (Aegina, Angistri, Hydra,Poros,Salamina, Spetses) has a population of approximately 541,504. Taking a look at the history accompanying the city of Piraeus, archeologists has discovered remains which date back to the 26th century BC. In very early antiquity Piraeus was a rocky island, connected to the mainland by a low-lying stretch of land that was flooded with sea water most of the year and was used as a salt field when it dried up. Consequently it was called the "Halipedon" (salt field) and its muddy soil which made it a tricky passage. The area was increasingly silted and flooding ceased, and by early classical times the land passage was made safe. It was then, in the late 6th century BC when the peninsula was first fortified by Hippia, making Piraeus assume its importance as a deep water harbor, and the previous, shallow Phaleron harbor, located at the east end of today’s Piraeus harbor, fell into gradual disuse. In Ancient Greece, Piraeus was a small port town, separated from the city Athens, though closely related.
Themistocles was the first to advise the Athenians to take advantage of Piraeus strategic harbor potential, instead of using the sandy bay of Phaleron. In the speculation of a new attack by the Persians (after the Battle of Marathon), Themistocles built large fortifications and turned Piraeus into a military harbor in 493 BC. The shipyards that were created then, built the mighty Athenian fleet, which distinguished itself at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC against the Persian armies. Following the battle of Salamis, Piraeus was used as a naval base for the development of the powerful Athenian fleet which dominated the Aegean Sea. The fortifications were completed by Cimon in 460 BC and Pericles during the Athenian Golden Age. Piraeus was eventually connected with Athens by the Long Walls reaching its biggest splendor. An outcome of these immense fortifications was the flourishing of Piraeus which eventually became a port with great commercial activity, and a city throbbing with life. The original town of Piraeus was planned by the architect Hippodamus of Miletus in the famous grid system that he devised, probably in the time of Pericles. During the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), in which Athenian military power clashed with the devoted Spartan war engaging machine, Piraeus was the major Athenian port and suffered its first breakdown. After the end of the Peloponnesian War, when Athens eventually came under Spartan occupation, Piraeus was to bear the brunt of the victors' rage. The Long Walls, w
hich guaranteed Athenian commercial and military prosperity, were torn down, leaving ancient Athens without its ability to generate revenue and create its biggest war making attribute, the “trireme”.After the reinstatement of democracy following the Peloponnesian War, the walls were rebuilt in 393 BC. During the same period, several new structures were founded, such as the temples of Aphrodite Euploia, the sanctuary of Zeus and Athena, and the famous Skevothiki of Philon, the ruins of which have been discovered at the port of Zea (a small picturesque port within the greater vicinity of the larger Piraeus harbor). The reconstruction of Piraeus went on during the period of Alexander the Great, but this revival of the town was ended by the Romans, who captured and totally destroyed Piraeus in 86 BC. The destruction was completed in 395 AD by the Goths under Alaric I. Piraeus was eventually led to a long period of decline which lasted for approximately fifteen centuries. During the Byzantine period the harbor of Piraeus was rarely used for the Byzantine fleet, due to the fact that its location was so far from the Byzantine capital Constantinople (currently Istanbul).The city eventually lost its ancient original name which was forgotten and replaced by the name of "Porto Leone (Lion's Port) in 1318 and "Porto Draco" by the Franks, originating from the marble lion standing at the point at which, later, the old Town Hall was built. In 1456, during the Ottoman occupation, Piraeus was known as the 
"Aslan Liman" (Lion's Port) of the Turks.
The marble lion was removed and stolen in 1688, during Francesco Morozini's expedition against Athens, and carried to the Arsenal of Venice, where it still be seen today. A copy of the lion statue is on display at the Piraeus Archaeological Museum. Throughout Ottoman occupation, especially before the beginning of the Greek War of Independence (1821), Piraeus was mostly deserted and was only used for small intervals for commercial issues. With the creation of the Modern Greek state and the proclamation of Athens as the Greek capital in 1832, the port began acquiring a reason for existence and growth, and eventually developed into a great commercial and industrial centre. Newly arrived populace, mostly from the Aegean islands, attracted from the immense industrial development, became the city’s first inhabitants.
